• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Kazoo Books

Excite your Mind

Quality Used & New Books
Kazoo Books · 2413 Parkview Ave. · (269) 553-6506
Hours: Monday thru Saturday 9 AM-6 PM
Closed Sunday
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Staff
    • Parking
    • Marketing & Publicity
  • Trade In Books
  • Shop
    • My Cart
  • Audiobooks
  • Meeting Here
    • Book & Writer’s Groups
    • Reserving Space
  • Distribution
  • Contact Us

Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain

February 2, 2015 by KB Staff

Fiction / Hard-boiled / Noir
Originally pub. 1941 by Alfred A. Knopf

This edition, pub. 1989 by Vintage

Reviewed by Sarah, 6/2/2015

Mildred PierceThings have gotten a little rough for Mildred Pierce. Her hubby decides that the braless Mrs. Biederhof is more interesting than his current family and leaves Mildred to figure out her life. Thus, Mildred and her two little girls are suddenly alone. Did I mention that this is the 1930’s? Not a great time to be a single mom. With Bert gone, Mildred faces finding a job for the first time.   After taking a turn as a waitress, she realizes that maybe she could establish her own restaurant.

If this sounds like a novel about how to overcome obstacles, I have some unfortunate news. Mildred might be a surprisingly good entrepreneur, but she is also the mother to an elitist, unfeeling daughter who judges her mother even as her mother scrimps and sacrifices to make a good life for her child. In addition, she takes up with a man who values her money and her figure more than he values her selfhood. By working and achieving independence, she also achieves scorn for not being an upper class lady of leisure.

Cain, who’s known for his own brand of noir fiction, achieves something special with this novel. He creates a human woman having a human experience, something much more authentic then the “dame done wrong” or the “femme fatale”. He likes Mildred and so will you.

Filed Under: Reviews, Sarah

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Parking and Entrance

We're now using our back entrance and parking lot exclusively!

Turn onto Barnard Ave at Parkview, and then left at Book Alley, which runs behind the building and is marked with a street sign.

Looking for a particular title?

We have over 40,000 new and used books. Call or email today. On a mobile phone? Call here.

Upcoming Events

Jul 26
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Author Visit – Michael G. Lee

View Calendar

Gift Cards Available

Gift Card!

Parts Work Products

Popular Links

Kazoo Books on Bookshop.org

Ordering online via Bookshop.org supports Kazoo Books! Titles ship directly from our distributor. Most in-print titles are available via Bookshop, but their stock doesn't reflect our own inventory.

Search our online inventory of rare & antiquarian books.

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Kazoo Books is a UPS Access Point

Footer

About us

Kazoo Books is Kalamazoo’s independent, locally-owned bookstore offering a wide selection of new and quality used books and book ordering services. We have been serving the greater Kalamazoo area since 1988.

Affiliations

indielogo buylocal logo GLIBA logo aba logo

Copyright © 2025 · Kazoo Books on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in