The Innocent Mrs. Duff

Rating: 4.25* of five

The Publisher Says: Jacob Duff has it all: A beautiful and much younger second wife, a young son, a nice suburban house a train ride from the office in New York City and a position in society he was born into that shapes him. Now one year into his second marriage, Jacob questions his decision to wed a woman he feels will never fit into his mold of the proper wife for a man of his social station, but he is cognizant that any decision he makes will face the stern scrutiny of his Aunt Lou, whose wealth Jacob will inherit upon her death. What to do....

My Review: A Canadian Book Warbler made me do it. She warbled so loudly about this book that, well, what's a mere mortal to do except give in, order one, and read the show more damned thing? And now, like Raymond Chandler before me, I am a fan and have several other Holding novels to read.

Boy do I owe that Canadian big for this. What a fun, exciting, and well-made psychological novel of suspense this is. I was completely riveted. Mr. Jacob Duff is our PoV character, and a more revolting, self-pitying, entitlement-driven piece of work is impossible to imagine. Mrs. Reggie Duff, young and beautiful but of a lower social class than Duff is, has a loving heart, a naive trusting nature, and a poor education. Jay Duff, scion of Duff's late wife and himself, is a typical boisterous boy and loves his stepmama Reggie a lot, while alternating between fear of and indifference to his father.

Not one of these folks will emerge from the novel unscathed. Duff the snob wants to divorce Reggie because she's not well-bred; his eccentric Aunt Lou won't hear of it, reminding Duff that he married Reggie for exactly that quality and now he needs to suck it up and deal. Whiny spoiled Duff begins to scheme, to cast about for ways and means to get his own stupid, selfish way.

In the course of doing exactly the wrong thing, Duff manages to kill, cause the death of, and/or ruin the lives of every single person in his way. He's despicable. And yet Holding writes this story, from his PoV remember!, in such a way that it's really unputdownable. I am delighted that I read this entertaining and suspenseful book. show less

Book description/summary:

Jacob Duff has it all: A beautiful and much younger second wife, a young son, a nice
suburban house a train ride from the office in New York City and a position in society he was born into that shapes him. Now one year into his second marriage, Jacob questions his decision to wed a woman he feels will never fit into his mold of the proper wife for a man of his social station but he is cognizant that any decision he makes will face the stern scrutiny of his aunt, who's wealth Jacob will inherit upon her death. What to do.....

Review:
I had no idea what to expect from this very plainly bound red hardcover book I purchased way, waaaayyy back in 1990 and which has been stored in a box in the crawlspace of my show more parent's home until now. I have never heard of Holding as an author and can only assume I purchased this one because I was going through a phase of finding and buying older books I would stumble across at garage sales and swap meets. According to Wikipedia, Holding was much admired during her day. Raymond Chandler, one of the top writers of detective fiction during its golden age of 1920–1940, said of Holding that she was “the top suspense writer of them all.” Well, okay then. Good to know.

Jacob Duff is anything but likeable as a character - he is rude, deems people that do not meet his standards of appropriate appearance, behaviour and manners as unworthy of his attention, and he has very little tolerance for much of anything.... not even the alcohol which he consumes like a fish. I started to get a hangover just reading about his drinking. Holding is a great writer for capturing a strong yet ordinary protagonist who makes a careless mistake and gets caught up in bizarre circumstances. The supporting cast are also strong but the focus of the story is all on Jacob, his thoughts and the actions he takes so the supporting characters remain a bit of a mystery to the reader - and are great for helping drive forward Holding's tightly woven plot.

Published in 1946, this story does have a dated quality to it, so I was rather surprised how much this story grew on me. Holding knows how to draw in a reader like me, who is a bit skeptical and who usually doesn't gravitate to novels of suspense or hard-boiled crime. By the time I had reached the half-way mark, I was hooked waiting for a train wreck but not 100% sure that a train wreck was going to happen. Will I read more Holding books? You bet I will, if I can get my hands on any. Might need to consider reading a Raymond Chandler novel, since I have never read any of his works, either.

As an aside, I was rather surprised to see that Holding actually started out her writing career writing romance novels during the 1920's and it wasn't until after the American stock market crash in 1929 that she shifted her writing focus to the more lucrative genre of the detective novel. Interesting fact, IMO. show less

Jake Duff is a successful middle-aged man on his second marriage, to the lovely Regina (Reggie.) But Jake is dissatisfied with her every action and imagines her inferior to his deceased first wife. In the house too, are his 7 year old son, his governess (whom Jake is beginning to see as a better bet than Reggie....a "real woman") and a handsome Irish chauffeur....
As Jake's drinking becomes excessive, as his plots and jealousy grow...and this is told completely from his point of view.....the reader awaits a dramatic denouement...