Heading Out to Wonderful

February 27, 2012
Goolrick’s tale of doomed love resonates like a folk ballad, with the language of the Blue Ridge Mountains and its people giving this novel its soul. Just after WWII, 39-year-old veteran Charlie Beale arrives in smalltown Brownsburg, Va., hoping for a brighter future. He offers his services to the local butcher, Will Haislett, and works his way into the good graces of Haislett’s family, especially five-year-old Sam. But even as Charlie finds acceptance, he remains apart in Brownsburg: he attends services in every church before finally finding redemption in an African-American Episcopal service; he buys up more land than he needs; and he makes a big mistake by falling for Sylvan Glass, the young wife of wealthy, old, vulgar Harrison Glass, who bought Sylvan at 17 “like a head of cattle.” Sylvan, an outsider like Charlie, dreams of Hollywood, while Charlie simply yearns for a place to call home. Goolrick (A Reliable Wife) tells their story from multiple perspectives, most poignantly that of Sam’s, a boy trying to make sense of the unfolding tragedy. Like any good ballad, the narrative builds slowly to its violent climax, packs an emotional punch, and then haunts readers with its quintessentially American refrain. Agent: Lynn Nesbit, Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

June 1, 2012
A torrid extramarital romance is the heart of Goolrick's powerful but problematic second novel; it follows the acclaimed A Reliable Wife (2009). Brownsburg nestles beneath Virginia's mountains. In 1948 it's a no-stoplight, God-fearing, segregated place, the blacks out of sight. Strangers are monitored rather than greeted, strangers like Charlie Beale, a 39-year-old Northerner with a suitcase of cash. His first purchase is the river land where he's been sleeping. He's evidently a gentle soul, childlike even, but how could a naif have acquired all that cash? That's never answered; the stranger's mystique is preserved at the cost of credibility. Charlie's a butcher by trade, and he's hired by a local guy, a good Christian like his wife. They dote on their only child, 5-year-old Sam, and soon Charlie does too. He also comes to dote on one of his customers. Sylvan Glass is a bewitching blonde, barely out of her teens, with a thrilling fantasy life; she's a star-struck movie fan. She's married to a much older man, Boaty Glass. Boaty is fat and rich and mean. He plucked Sylvan from her hillbilly family in the hollows, paying cash down; Boaty's negotiation with her dirt-poor father is utterly convincing. Charlie and Sylvan are drawn to each other from the get-go; Sylvan sees him as her matinee idol, while Charlie is transformed by unconditional love. He buys her a house for their trysts, doing Sam no favors by using him as a cover. Goolrick is aiming for the somber momentum of the ballad, and there is much pleasure-giving psychological truth along the way, but at a key moment his calibration fails him. Something extraordinary happens, out of the blue. "You may wonder why, and I'm telling you that I don't know," is the narrator's cop-out. That doesn't stop the gothic flourishes of a murder/suicide, followed by a second suicide; yet arresting as they are, they seem arbitrary. There are some weak links in a chain that's still capable of pulling you along.

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February 15, 2012

After the mysterious Charlie Beale arrives in 1948 Brownsberg, VA, and begins working for a butcher, his relationships with the butcher's five-year-old son and the gorgeous, quirky teenaged bride of the town's richest man upend the whole community. Goolrick's A Reliable Wife was a highly praised No. 1 New York Times best seller that, interestingly, polarized readers; his new work comes with a 100,000-copy first printing and a 12-city tour. It will be much anticipated where the first book was loved.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2012
With understated delicacy, Goolrick, in his second novel, after the well-received A Reliable Wife (2009), creates a mesmerizing gothic tale of a good man gone wrong. Charismatic Charlie Beale, just returned from WWII, is desperate to put down roots, and the small, bucolic town of Brownsburg, Virginia, where no crime had ever been committed, seems to offer him the simple life he craves. He immediately finds work at the butcher shop, where his courteous ways make him popular with the local housewives, while his baseball prowess impresses the men. He becomes fast friends with his employer's family, especially five-year-old Sam. But when Charlie sets eyes on Sylvan Glass, the beautiful young wife of the town's richest citizen, the simple life he so desires vanishes in an instant. The two begin a torrid affair, often using young Sam as their cover, and what Sam sees and experiences in their presence changes him forever. Goolrick effortlessly creates a timeless, erotically charged tale of illicit passion and peoples it with a unique cast of characters, ranging from a gifted black seamstress to a country girl besotted with Hollywood movie stars and fashion. Finely crafted fiction from a captivating writer. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A 100,000-copy first printing and a major promotional campaign for Goolrick's terrific sophomore effort may well boost the author's profile.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)