I Married a Dead Man

I would have to term this one, as mentioned in the edition of the book I have, a Soap Opera noir. Even for Woolrich, this was an unusual work of suspense. For those who've read a lot of the great author's work it is fabulous, but others may have some difficulty getting into the style and flow. Once they do, they're hooked, but it can be jarring if you're used to the modern - and mundane - type of storytelling.

Woolrich places the reader into the mind of someone and you feel and experience the world and the situation from her perspective, as she takes the place of another and lives in fear. It is like an old-time melodrama where the tension is sustained throughout the narrative. Rich with moral complexity and psychology, Woolrich adds show more fabulous little moments of insight. One such moment occurs when the girl in question is called to supper. It floods her heart with a feeling of acceptance, because supper is a term used informally, with family; only when we dine with others, or go out in the evening, does it become dinner.

The premise is simple, the execution extremely difficult. Perhaps only Woolrich could have written something like this and made it work. A mesmerizing read for Woolrich fans, but most definitely not the book I'd recommend as your first exposure to this great author, who in my opinion, eclipsed all others of suspense. Definitely give The Bride Wore Black a read first, and though it's longer, Deadline at Dawn, which I consider to be Woolrich at his finest, before tackling I Married a Dead Man. This one is a type of masterpiece to be sure, but a bit less accessible than the aforementioned. Not for all tastes. show less

Best one so far. Desperation, tragedy, and deceit meet decency, kindness, and generosity - all to be destroyed when the past rears its ugly head, and good intentions lead to inescapable misery. How could you not love it? And any writer who sees a cigarette being smoked in a dark doorway as a "red sequin" has my undying admiration.

Maybe Woolrich didn't know squat about babies (he never had any - thank goodness). But at least this time we get a woman with some actual emotions and thoughts and grit and guts, unlike some of his bloody-minded, sociopathic witches. The plot gets overly tricksy in the end - as his plots tend to do - but overall it's brimming with primal emotions of love and fear, and the writing crackles. Well done, Cornell!

With a title like that, I needed to read this book. And with a cover like this, I figured it would be pretty creepy, or at least unsettling. It certainly was that.

Helen is pregnant and has been abandoned by the man who did it, but she has received a one-way ticket to San Francisco. On the train she meets a couple named Patrice and Hugh. They are going to visit Hugh's parents, whom Patrice has never met. Patrice has just given Helen her wedding band to try on when the train crashes, and Patrice and Hugh are killed. So the rescuers think that Helen is Patrice, and she gets a chance to start anew. At least for a while...

This was an excellent book. In addition to the gripping plot, Woolrich's writing was particularly skilful, using show more repetition (with slight alterations) to great effect. (See the beginnings of Chapters 25, 26 and 27 for an example.) I could not put it down, even when it was almost too tense to carry on with. Highly recommended if you can get your hands on a copy. show less

One of the few books I've ever read twice (actually three times). A title that just makes you have to pick it up. Steeped in paranoia it is one of the best noir novels ever written, full of Woolrich's creepy imagery. The only thing I have never bought is the ending and the only thing that keeps the novel from being perfect. Woolrich in an effort to put yet another layer of paranoia on the existential cake leaves us with a footnote that just doesn't ring true given the characters he has drawn for us. The enigma of the ending would have stood better on its own without further comment. Finish the book and pretend it ended, like Clockwork Orange, at the penultimate chapter.

Nineteen year-old Helen Georgesson boards a train leaving New York. She's eight months pregnant, has just seventeen cents and has been abandoned by her husband. What little plans she has are to go back to San Francisco and start her life over. On board, she meets the Hazzards, a happy young couple who include Helen in their conversation and meals. Patrice Hazzard is about Helen's age, she's seven months pregnant and she's going to meet her in-laws for the first time. The three have just a day to become friends, because that night the train goes off the track and the Hazzards are killed. In the chaos, Helen is mistaken for Patrice, and though she's a nice, honest girl, she needs somewhere to belong and raise her newborn, and the Hazzard show more family needs the connection of their son's child.
Of course someone will recognize Helen. show less

Couldn't give it five stars because of the ending. Cornell should have stopped at the penultimate chapter. I just couldn't buy that after all they had been through, they couldn't put this behind them as well. It seemed tacked on.

Was there ever anybody better than Cornell Woolrich at creating a living breathing human being in so few words? I just a few pages we feel like we know everything about the Hazzards and Helen, even their unwritten pasts, even by the time their lives are turned literally upside down just a few pages later. That is why this is so shocking to us, almost as shocking as the shower scene in Psycho.

The rest of the novel is about Helen's future life, a life as unexpected as the initial disaster that created it. Yet all show more the while we can feel that this is surely only hanging by the most tenuous threads. She goes from bliss to haunted in only a few sentences. The suspense is unnerving as we see her life built on a monumental lie inevitably unravel. Woolrich creates the suspense so successfully that the novel becomes a page turner for the rest of it's duration. We see the tenuousness of our own lives and happiness in Helen and Bill.

The characters were first rate, we love them or hate 'em. The suspense is outstanding, as in all of Woolrich's novels and stories. And you have to love that title. show less

Great noir novel. This was my first time reading any books by this author and after some preliminary research, I see that they are largely out of print, even the library selections are sparse. I will continue to try to hunt them down however.This author should definitely be rediscovered.

The story:
Young Helen boards a train heading west, seven months pregnant and abandoned by the baby's father. On the train she meets Patrice and her husband Hugh. Patrice lets Helen try on her wedding ring, and shortly thereafter the train crashes killing also pregnant Patrice and Hugh. Hugh's parents have never met Patrice however. When Helen wakes up in the hospital, everyone assumes she is the deceased Patrice. To save her son and provide a home life show more for him Helen assumes Patrice's identity and is taken in by Hugh's family. This is only the beginning of a series of events that turn Helen's life upside down. show less