In the early 20th century, a woman responds to a marriage announcement. A captivating story begins in the heart of a harsh and less-than-ideal Wisconsin.

Wisconsin, autumn 1907. Ralph Truitt, a feared and respected local tycoon, waits feverishly on a snowy train platform. This late train holds his last hope. After 20 years of widowhood, the man has finally decided to remarry and placed a classified ad in a Chicago newspaper several months earlier. And Catherine Land answered. Describing herself as "a simple, honest woman," she is the one he has been dreaming of. But appearances can be very deceptive. And the perfect wife hides many secrets...

Robert Goolrick's stunning debut novel, A simple and honest woman has been compared in the United States to Jane Eyre or to the Wuthering Heights , of the Brontë sisters.