Mildred Pierce

By: James M. Cain

Narrated by: Christine Williams

Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness and determination. She used those attributes to survive a divorce in 1940s America with two children and to claw her way out of poverty, becoming a successful businesswoman. But Mildred also had two weaknesses: a yen for shiftless men and an unreasoning devotion to her monstrous daughter.

Out of these elements, Cain created a novel (later made into a film noir classic) of acute social observation and devastating emotional violence - and a heroine whose ambitions and sufferings are never less than recognizable.

©1941 James M. Cain (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"[James M. Cain is] the poet of the hard-boiled school of the American novel." (Washington Post)
"A novel that, once begun, will almost surely be read to the end....it reflects no codes, no restrictions, and none but the primordial necessities. It is a bath in sensation." (New York Times Book Review)

Great Book

Really enjoyed this book and the narration. Glad I read the book before watching to the miniseries.

Better Than The Movie

Loved this story! Ms. Williams does an amazing job in her reading! I recommend it without reservation.

Very enjoyable

What a ride for our Mildred! The depression era setting makes the story interesting, and the reader cheer for and sympathize with the main character.

Prefer the film, but the book was okay.

My problem with the book was that I saw the film first and loved it. I was hoping the film was true to the book, but it was not. The basics are the same, but the major differences make the book experience somewhat different and a little lacking for me. I did enjoy some of the characters, although Mildred seemed to come across as more naive than ruthless. Normally I don't listen to female narrators, but this one was okay. She played a better Veda than Mildred, breathing more life and evil into that soulless child. Overall, the book did not emotionally grab me as the film did.

Dreams can come true

I loved the book because even though it takes place during the depression it relates to today. She uses the skill she has to survive. Even when things are going wrong. This book is about life doesn't matter what era it is.

What a great listen.

First, I thought the narrator was extraordinarily good. She did so many characters, convincingly.


The story was very nice and yes, the bratty daughter was horrible. I wanted to slap her and was delighted when Mildred slapped her a good one.

A book thats better tan the movie

I fell in love withe movie. Then I saw the HBO miniseries and I liked. Now I have listened to the audiobook and I love it. The book version is better. The book shows how monstrous her daughter is.

Liked the story, performance grated my ears.

Story was enjoyable. I nearly quit listening due to the performance. Cadence was constantly driven, never let up, vocals were screechy. I’d pass on this.

I think this is a happy ending…

…but I’ll let you decide. Certainly, by the end our heroine has finally been stripped of all illusions about her daughter, whose social affectations drive her mother to business success and financial disaster. But as C. S. Lewis observed, we should never complain about being disillusioned; the truth is so much healthier.

Until that point it’s hard to really like anyone in this book. Then the story comes full circle: you end up liking – or at least hoping the best for – the two characters whose combined failings set things in motion in Chapter One. Don’t expect to hear the classic movie; the book is radically different from (and better than) Hollywood’s reworking of the story, as great as that is. And, though it took a while for Christine Williams’ performance to win me over, in the end it did.

Dated but Still Poignant

I’ve only read a few of James M. Cain’s novels, and most of them were noir thrillers, works that built a genre. To my surprise, Mildred Pierce did not fit this bill, but Cain’s writing lost none of its teeth. His telling of Mildred’s story is done without the crooked cops, criminals, and some of the intrigue. Mildred’s a single woman who turns her life around becoming a successful business woman, only to lose it all to her relentless need to feel close to her daughter Veda, who is an absolutely terrible child. I hated Veda, not because Cain wrote her poorly but because of how ruthless and manipulative she is in her pursuit of fame. Mildred Pierce is well worth the read.