Philomena

Mildred Pierce

Mildred Pierce is a 1941 hardboiled novel by James M. Cain. It was made into an Academy Award–winning film of the same name in 1945, starring Joan Crawford, and a 2011 Emmy Award–winning miniseries of the same name, starring Kate Winslet. Cain's portrayal of the title character as an independent working woman was a departure from the one-dimensional depictions of women in his earlier crime fiction; in this he was influenced by his friendship with Kate Cummings Logan, who he believed had sacrificed her singing career to advance her daughter, the actress Constance Cummings. Kate Cummings served as muse during the writing of the novel, encouraging the author to make his portrayal of working women more authentic. more »