Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness. She used those attributes to survive a divorce and poverty and to claw her way out of the lower middle class. But Mildred also had two weaknesses: a yen for shiftless men, and an unreasoning devotion to a monstrous daughter. Out of these elements, Cain creates a novel of acute social observation and devastating emotional violence, with a heroine whose ambitions and sufferings are never less than recognizable. [From the book's dust jacket.]
About a year and a half ago I became obsessed with hardboiled detective novels from the likes of James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammet. I read as many of these books as I could find, watched the movie versions, and did a speech on the genre. My favorite book was and still is Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain. So imagine my excitement when I find out that HBO is making a five-hour miniseries of it!
Kate Winslet will play Mildred and I can already imagine how good that's going to be. I mean, the 1945 version earned Joan Crawford an Oscar. Big shoes for Winslet to fill, but if anyone can do it, she can.
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