Bedelia (novel)

Bedelia (novel)

Bedelia is a novel by Vera Caspary first published in 1945 about a couple of newlyweds where the initially blissfully happy husband finds out during the first months of their marriage that his wife may have a criminal past. His growing suspicion and seemingly corroborating evidence lead him to think that she might even be a serial killer, and that he could be her next victim.

Set in small-town Connecticut in the winter of 1913-14, Bedelia, whose eponymous heroine was called "the wickedest woman who ever loved" on the cover of an early edition of the book, is usually subsumed under the genre of pulp fiction. However, a 2005 annotated edition published by The Feminist Press at the City University of New York shows that Caspary's novel can be seen as a contribution to feminist thought in that it raised the level of awareness amongst its readers of the unequal, if not desperate, position of freedom-loving women in pre-World War I Western society.

Bedelia is dedicated to film producer Isadore "Igee" Goldsmith, then Caspary's husband.

Read more about Bedelia (novel):  Plot Summary, Major Themes, New Edition and References, Film Adaptation