It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
Heading Out to Wonderful

Heading Out to Wonderful

Summary

A stranger. A small town. The wife of the town's richest man. There’s no stopping what’s about to happen in this searing new novel from million copy bestseller, Robert Goolrick. For fans of The Help, Tigers in Red Weather and The Great Gatsby.

It is the summer of 1948 when a handsome, charismatic stranger, Charlie Beale, back from war in Europe, shows up in the sleepy town of Brownsburg, Virginia. All he has with him are two suitcases: one contains a fine set of butcher knives; the other is full of money. Charlie should have turned around and walked back the other way, for what follows – the most passionate and tragic story of a forbidden love affair – will threaten to destroy everything and everyone in its path.

Told through the eyes of Sam, a young boy in the town whose world is changed forever by the events of that single year, Heading Out to Wonderful is a suspenseful masterpiece, a haunting, heart-stopping novel of obsession and love gone terribly wrong in a place where once upon a time such things could happen.

Reviews

  • I love Robert Goolrick’s Heading Out to Wonderful. The novel’s seductive power and the beauty of his writing create a delicious feast.
    Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help

About the author

Robert Goolrick

Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more