I had a very mixed reaction to this book. I liked Cain's big three very much. This one seems very different. Perhaps it's because he was still working on it when he died. I was intrigued with the story from page one but, the main character and narrator was immensely annoying. She seemed very intelligent but did incredibly stupid things. The editor suggests that she may have been lying. That would explain the inconsistencies in her attitude and behavior. The addition of thalidomide to the story seemed to go one step too far. Despite James M. Cain’s “issues” with women, I do enjoy his writing and story-telling. “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” Mildred Pierce,” and “Double Indemnity” would have been quite memorable, even if movies hadn’t been made of them. This one is supposedly his “lost, final novel.” As it was published long after his death, one does wonder what the result would have been had the author been alive at the time of publication – would we have ended up with the result we have today. This has elements of other Cain stories – a girl with the heart of gold forced to do bad things (waitress!) because she’s fallen on hard times. I enjoyed the novel until I read the afterward when we’re told what the drug thalidomide is. Had I had this information up front, I might have read this work a little differently.
