Mildred Pierce is a 1941 novel written by James M. Cain, widely regarded as a classic of the hardboiled school of crime fiction. It tells the story of the relationship between a single mother, Mildred Pierce, and her daughter, Veda, from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s in California.
The novel begins in Glendale, California shortly after the great depression, as Mildred Pierce is forced to return to the job market, having been abandoned by her husband, Bert. After getting a job as a waitress, Mildred gets an offer to work as a camp hostess, so she takes her young daughter, Veda, and her friend, Ida, along with her. Mildred works hard at the camp and soon earns enough money to open a successful restaurant.
Mildred's newfound financial success awakens in Veda a burning ambition. She wants what her mother has, and even more. Veda leaves home to pursue her dream of becoming an opera singer, and Mildred's financial success only continues to climb. She marries an idle wealthy man, Monty Beragon, who does not share her same ethical values. Meanwhile, Mildred's second daughter, Kay, has been growing up without her mother.
Little does Mildred know that Veda is genuinely scheming to make her own way in life, at the expense of her own mother. Mildred is blind to Veda's deceitful tactics, however, and instead dotes upon her daughter's luxurious lifestyle.
Meanwhile, Mildred's husband Monty reveals that he has been having an affair with Ida, Mildred's former camp colleague. Mildred finds her husband guilty of bigamy and has her marriage annulled. At the same time, Veda's opera career tanks and she winds up making a living as a singer in a seedy nightclub.
Veda is desperate to regain her secure financial position and realizes that she can do this by making herself married to her wealthy step-father, Monty Beragon. Knowing that her mother will not approve, Veda turns to blackmail and steeling a significant sum of money from Mildred's business.
Mildred is devastated. Veda believes that her mother has failed her, and that her success has been built off of her own back-breaking efforts. When Mildred confronts her daughter, Veda finally confesses her deceit and reveals that she was only using her mother to get what she desired in life. Mildred eventually finds redemption not through her financial success but through her relationship with her other daughter, Kay. She is able to rebuild her moral fiber and bring warmth and love back into Kay’s life.
Mildred Pierce is a powerful, moving story about a woman's struggle for economic freedom and her ultimate failure in the face of her daughter’s deceit and ambition. It shows how hard work and ambition can be both a good and a bad thing and how people can't always be in control of their own lives. However, Mildred also finds a kind of redemption, as her relationship with Kay teaches her lessons about love, loyalty and self-sacrifice that she would not have learned had it not been for the events of the novel.
