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Sinful Woman
Book by Cain, James M.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
19 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
James M. Cain
144 books879 followersJames Mallahan Cain (July 1, 1892–October 27, 1977) was an American journalist and novelist. Although Cain himself vehemently opposed labeling, he is usually associated with the hard-boiled school of American crime fiction and seen as one of the creators of the "roman noir."
He was born into an Irish Catholic family in Annapolis, Maryland, the son of a prominent educator and an opera singer. He inherited his love for music from his mother, but his high hopes of starting a career as a singer himself were thwarted when she told him that his voice was not good enough.
After graduating from Washington College where his father, James W. Cain served as president, in 1910, he began working as a journalist for The Baltimore Sun.
He was drafted into the United States Army and spent the final year of World War I in France writing for an Army magazine. On his return to the United States he continued working as a journalist, writing editorials for the New York World and articles for American Mercury. He also served briefly as the managing editor of The New Yorker, but later turned to screenplays and finally to fiction.
Although Cain spent many years in Hollywood working on screenplays, his name only appears on the credits of three films, Algiers, Stand Up and Fight, and Gypsy Wildcat.
His first novel (he had already published Our Government in 1930), The Postman Always Rings Twice was published in 1934. Two years later the serialized, in Liberty Magazine, Double Indemnity was published.
He made use of his love of music and of the opera in particular in at least three of his novels: Serenade (about an American opera singer who loses his voice and who, after spending part of his life south of the border, re-enters the States illegally with a Mexican prostitute in tow), Mildred Pierce (in which, as part of the subplot, the only daughter of a successful businesswoman trains as an opera singer) and Career in C Major (a short semi-comic novel about the unhappy husband of an aspiring opera singer who unexpectedly discovered that he has a better voice than she does).
He continued writing up to his death at the age of 85. His last three published works, The Baby in the Icebox (1981), Cloud Nine (1984) and The Enchanted Isle (1985) being published posthumously. However, the many novels he published from the late 1940s onward never quite rivaled his earlier successes.
He was born into an Irish Catholic family in Annapolis, Maryland, the son of a prominent educator and an opera singer. He inherited his love for music from his mother, but his high hopes of starting a career as a singer himself were thwarted when she told him that his voice was not good enough.
After graduating from Washington College where his father, James W. Cain served as president, in 1910, he began working as a journalist for The Baltimore Sun.
He was drafted into the United States Army and spent the final year of World War I in France writing for an Army magazine. On his return to the United States he continued working as a journalist, writing editorials for the New York World and articles for American Mercury. He also served briefly as the managing editor of The New Yorker, but later turned to screenplays and finally to fiction.
Although Cain spent many years in Hollywood working on screenplays, his name only appears on the credits of three films, Algiers, Stand Up and Fight, and Gypsy Wildcat.
His first novel (he had already published Our Government in 1930), The Postman Always Rings Twice was published in 1934. Two years later the serialized, in Liberty Magazine, Double Indemnity was published.
He made use of his love of music and of the opera in particular in at least three of his novels: Serenade (about an American opera singer who loses his voice and who, after spending part of his life south of the border, re-enters the States illegally with a Mexican prostitute in tow), Mildred Pierce (in which, as part of the subplot, the only daughter of a successful businesswoman trains as an opera singer) and Career in C Major (a short semi-comic novel about the unhappy husband of an aspiring opera singer who unexpectedly discovered that he has a better voice than she does).
He continued writing up to his death at the age of 85. His last three published works, The Baby in the Icebox (1981), Cloud Nine (1984) and The Enchanted Isle (1985) being published posthumously. However, the many novels he published from the late 1940s onward never quite rivaled his earlier successes.
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December 11, 2022Ok, I do not like this and I am not going to read it. I guess I have issues with James M Cain. First I read his trilogy of popular filmed novels: the Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce. Loved those of course. But the other at least 3 by him I tried haven't even been able to get into or finish.
He wrote many books, so I'll keep trying.
He wrote many books, so I'll keep trying.
September 28, 2025
lousy and it stops being interesting when the crime part begins so you can imagine how mediocre this is
October 6, 2009
a truly unremarkable book from a writer i really really like. it reads like a bad screenplay, and perhaps that's what it is. there are no surprises and a lot of stock characters. i would not recommend reading for the cain enthusiast -- it'll just make you sad.
April 11, 2025
Lit Noir. Always fun to read.
June 17, 2015
A quickie noir, not quite up to the standards of Cain's other noir classics (but then again, what is?), but still an entertaining bit of cross, double-cross and the unraveling of the best laid criminal plots. I understand this started as a screenplay that wasn't picked up by Hollywood, so Cain turned it into a novel, which explains the heavy amount of dialogue and visible action.
September 27, 2023
OK, I have a confession. I've known of James M. Cain and his novels for decades. After all, Cain was the author of such famous works as Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and The Postman Always Rings Twice, all of which were adapted to some of the most successful and well known movies in history. I've seen all of them many times.
Oh, yeah . . . my confession: I'd never read any of James M. Cain's work. Never. So, when Cain's The Sinful Woman popped up for sale on my e-reader, I jumped at it.
The verdict: It's a great story, well told. It's set in and around a small town in Nevada, where our heroine has been staying to facilitate her divorce from a total jerk of a husband. She's a young, successful Hollywood movie actress, trapped by her no good rotten husband, a sleazy producer, and his cronies in a terrible contract. The divorce is her first step in extricating herself from the contract, and moving forward with her life and career.
As luck would have it, on the very day on which her divorce is supposed to be effective, we meet her troubled sister, the miscreant of a husband and his shady film studio associates, and the local County Sheriff. Other locals involved in our story include, in no particular order, a casino owner-operator, a Blackjack dealer, and even an insurance salesman. Then, all hell breaks loose. Every character contributes as story teller and reader race headlong toward the finish line.
This is a fast read--one sitting--and it might even qualify as a "novella." It's definitely more substantial than a short story, and it most assuredly is a satisfying read. As well as being relatively short as novels go, the time it covers is also relatively short, as all the action is packed into only a couple of days.
Cain keeps the action moving with a good balance of narrative vs. dialog, and plot movement vs. color and motivation. His characters are unique and colorful without requiring chapters to establish who they are, and why they do the things they do. Cain's dialog helps to establish character quickly. By the end of our story, not all of those characters can still fog a mirror, but that end includes a satisfying denouement. Cain puts it all together for us to accept the outcome as he presents it.
I'm glad I finally read a James M. Cain story. If you haven't, maybe it's time you did. I'm ready to read another.
Oh, yeah . . . my confession: I'd never read any of James M. Cain's work. Never. So, when Cain's The Sinful Woman popped up for sale on my e-reader, I jumped at it.
The verdict: It's a great story, well told. It's set in and around a small town in Nevada, where our heroine has been staying to facilitate her divorce from a total jerk of a husband. She's a young, successful Hollywood movie actress, trapped by her no good rotten husband, a sleazy producer, and his cronies in a terrible contract. The divorce is her first step in extricating herself from the contract, and moving forward with her life and career.
As luck would have it, on the very day on which her divorce is supposed to be effective, we meet her troubled sister, the miscreant of a husband and his shady film studio associates, and the local County Sheriff. Other locals involved in our story include, in no particular order, a casino owner-operator, a Blackjack dealer, and even an insurance salesman. Then, all hell breaks loose. Every character contributes as story teller and reader race headlong toward the finish line.
This is a fast read--one sitting--and it might even qualify as a "novella." It's definitely more substantial than a short story, and it most assuredly is a satisfying read. As well as being relatively short as novels go, the time it covers is also relatively short, as all the action is packed into only a couple of days.
Cain keeps the action moving with a good balance of narrative vs. dialog, and plot movement vs. color and motivation. His characters are unique and colorful without requiring chapters to establish who they are, and why they do the things they do. Cain's dialog helps to establish character quickly. By the end of our story, not all of those characters can still fog a mirror, but that end includes a satisfying denouement. Cain puts it all together for us to accept the outcome as he presents it.
I'm glad I finally read a James M. Cain story. If you haven't, maybe it's time you did. I'm ready to read another.
December 8, 2024
Not widely available
One of James M Cain's lesser works. Not sure this is worth hunting down to read. This is close to a detective story. I say "close to" because much of the story is background on the characters and what other characters say and do as opposed to what the detective (the sheriff) investigates.
The story revolves around Sylvia Shoreham, a movie actress. A death occurs and soon the sheriff of what I believe to be some place in Nevada, where gambling is available, is brought in on the death. I can't remember if Vegas is mentioned at all but that doesn't matter. The long and short of it is Sylvia has a sister Hazel who looks just like her. Authors introduce look-alikes for a reason!
During the journey, we have a truck load of con men involved. They include insurance men, movie producers, movie directors, casino proprietors, and the husband of Sylvia. It was humorous to read what each of these characters say and think. They changed their story more frequently than how often they smoked.
In the end, there is a happy ending. Not as dark as Cain's other works I've read.
One of James M Cain's lesser works. Not sure this is worth hunting down to read. This is close to a detective story. I say "close to" because much of the story is background on the characters and what other characters say and do as opposed to what the detective (the sheriff) investigates.
The story revolves around Sylvia Shoreham, a movie actress. A death occurs and soon the sheriff of what I believe to be some place in Nevada, where gambling is available, is brought in on the death. I can't remember if Vegas is mentioned at all but that doesn't matter. The long and short of it is Sylvia has a sister Hazel who looks just like her. Authors introduce look-alikes for a reason!
During the journey, we have a truck load of con men involved. They include insurance men, movie producers, movie directors, casino proprietors, and the husband of Sylvia. It was humorous to read what each of these characters say and think. They changed their story more frequently than how often they smoked.
In the end, there is a happy ending. Not as dark as Cain's other works I've read.
October 31, 2018
Another rare miss from a writer I love and admire. Sometimes one needs to merely pay the bills I guess, and this one, sounded pretty bad in the description and it got worse from there. Truly disappointing.
January 10, 2014
James M. Cain at his worst ... but sometimes at his best as well.
(Spoilers)
This is a chaotic novella with a jumble of characters, mostly stereotypes, but stereotypes who would have been afoot in the land in the 1940's. None is drawn deeply, but each one is drawn sharply and the array of agendas makes for some interesting situations.
As is usual with Cain's stories, a lot turns on business dealings, contracts, fine print, twists in the law, and concern for personal reputations.
George M. Layton of Southwest General Insurance Company of North America is described this way by Cain:
"Thus, he who had been paralyzed by officialdom, by ignorance of the ropes he was trying to handle, by a conviction that he was afoot on a monstrous errand, had now become a different man, and an incomparably dangerous one. For bland cheek was an integral part of his daily life; he not only had a gift for it, but believed in it, as the sign of an up-and-at-them attitude, and studied it avidly under the district manager, other agents, and such experts in salesmanship. He was an expert at keeping the other fellow guessing, at never giving him a chance to take charge of the interview, of feinting him into the path of the argument held in reserve. He could dissemble, he could laugh, he could tell a joke. He could be stern, he could plead. And he could defeat, by stratagems developed by the whole inner arcanum of insurance agents, any known method of throwing him out."
Mr. George M. Layton drives certain aspects of the plot while other characters include an Eastern European Movie producer who speaks a weird combination of English and German (Today becomes "todayheute" and so on), a glamorous movie star seeking divorce, her look-alike sister, a laconic sheriff who misses nothing, and a casino owner. Everyone seems to tell the truth when it benefits them and everyone seems to lie when that benefits them.
It all comes to a happy conclusion except for the two characters who die. The loose ends are tied up, the suicide note is burned, the insurance money is paid, the movie star falls in love with the sheriff on the same day her husband dies, the casino owner is promised a new building paid for by the guy who burned his down, the murder is pinned on the woman who died in a car accident, and even the fund for the new Reno Hospital gets a boost. And no one goes to jail!
All in all, the World has become a better place.
(Spoilers)
This is a chaotic novella with a jumble of characters, mostly stereotypes, but stereotypes who would have been afoot in the land in the 1940's. None is drawn deeply, but each one is drawn sharply and the array of agendas makes for some interesting situations.
As is usual with Cain's stories, a lot turns on business dealings, contracts, fine print, twists in the law, and concern for personal reputations.
George M. Layton of Southwest General Insurance Company of North America is described this way by Cain:
"Thus, he who had been paralyzed by officialdom, by ignorance of the ropes he was trying to handle, by a conviction that he was afoot on a monstrous errand, had now become a different man, and an incomparably dangerous one. For bland cheek was an integral part of his daily life; he not only had a gift for it, but believed in it, as the sign of an up-and-at-them attitude, and studied it avidly under the district manager, other agents, and such experts in salesmanship. He was an expert at keeping the other fellow guessing, at never giving him a chance to take charge of the interview, of feinting him into the path of the argument held in reserve. He could dissemble, he could laugh, he could tell a joke. He could be stern, he could plead. And he could defeat, by stratagems developed by the whole inner arcanum of insurance agents, any known method of throwing him out."
Mr. George M. Layton drives certain aspects of the plot while other characters include an Eastern European Movie producer who speaks a weird combination of English and German (Today becomes "todayheute" and so on), a glamorous movie star seeking divorce, her look-alike sister, a laconic sheriff who misses nothing, and a casino owner. Everyone seems to tell the truth when it benefits them and everyone seems to lie when that benefits them.
It all comes to a happy conclusion except for the two characters who die. The loose ends are tied up, the suicide note is burned, the insurance money is paid, the movie star falls in love with the sheriff on the same day her husband dies, the casino owner is promised a new building paid for by the guy who burned his down, the murder is pinned on the woman who died in a car accident, and even the fund for the new Reno Hospital gets a boost. And no one goes to jail!
All in all, the World has become a better place.
May 18, 2011
This book was ok but it came nowhere near meeting the high standard that Cain set with The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce and Serenade.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews