Mildred Pierce
by James M. Cain
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Set in 1930s Glendale, California, the plot follows middle-class housewife Mildred, whose money was lost in the Great Depression. An overprotective, self-sacrificing mother, after separating from her unemployed husband Bert, Mildred sets out to support herself and two daughters. After much door knocking, she finds waitressing work but worries that her spoilt older daughter, Veda, will think her new job demeaning.
Desperate to retain Veda's approval, Mildred, still waitressing her fingers to the bone, starts a home baked pie sideline, partly to make ends meet but mostly to keep Veda in the style to which she's become accustomed. Her pies a surprise hit, Mildred opens a restaurant. She also falls for handsome Monty Beragon, a younger man whose great family wealth had similarly evaporated in the Great Depression.
A successful businesswoman, Mildred opens a second restaurant, then a third. Though initially enjoying her mother's newfound success, Veda remains contemptuous of the working classes which, to her, includes self-made traders like her mother. Veda becomes increasingly ungrateful, demanding more and more from Mildred while openly sneering at her. Soon, no measure of money or gifts will keep the disdainful Veda onside. Compounding Mildred's turmoil, Veda's younger sister, Moire (nicknamed 'Ray'), falls suddenly ill and dies. But plucky Mildred keeps going.
Uncovering Veda's plot to blackmail a wealthy family with a fake pregnancy is the final straw, and Mildred kicks her out. Having had extensive opera training, financed by Mildred's hard-earned dollars, Veda lands on her feet, but Mildred perversely yearns for her estranged ungrateful daughter. She convinces Monty, now her husband, to sell her his family estate, luring Veda back into her life with wealth.
Discovering that Mildred's extravagance has eaten into company profits, her business partner Wally faces her down, threatening a corporate overthrow. Revisiting ex-husband Bert, she confesses to systematically syphoning money from her own company in a desperate, ongoing quest to rebuy Veda's affection.
Seeking the now successful Veda's financial help to rebalance the books – and protectively concerned Wally may target Veda's assets – Mildred goes to face her, only to find her in bed with Monty. He announces he's leaving Mildred for Veda, who sneers that this was their plan from the outset. Pushed to despair, Mildred tries to throttle her daughter who, as a result, loses her singing voice and therefore her job.
Compelled to forfeit her business empire, Mildred transfers it to former company assistant and longtime friend Ida. She then relocates to Reno, Nevada, where the law allows her a rapid divorce from Monty. Ex husband Bert moves out to visit and, with Mildred's divorce settlement finalised, proposes remarriage.
With Veda's singing career in tatters after her loss of voice, her reputation is also tarnished from having slept with stepfather Monty. In professional damage control she arrives on Mildred's doorstep with a press entourage, to publicly reconcile with her mother. Mildred gullibly takes her in, only to realise months later she's been had when Veda callously announces her ruthless new plans.
Finally waving Veda farewell from the doorstep, a Mildred says 'to hell' with Veda and heads indoors to 'get stinko' with stalwart twice-over husband Bert.
Oh, Mildred, Mildred, Mildred, whatta gal! I was frequently urged to kiss her and slap her into sense. So sucked in was I that I reread it - a second time, then a third. This is something special, with its poignant, noir-tinged stylistic treatment.
I never wanted this to end. Can't imagine any reader of any age or group not devouring this iconic tale of a great and endearing woman and her forgivably anomalous weaknesses.
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