The Good Guy
A deeply compelling novel about love and marriage set in 1960s suburban America
Published on 9. March 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-4736-3036-9 (ISBN)
Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2016
'I fell into The Good Guy hook, line and sinker . . . utterly captivating' Last Word Review
A summer of love and deceit in 1960s New England.
Abigail has everything she's meant to want: a handsome, successful husband, a beautiful baby daughter, and a house in the suburbs. Inside, however, she's in turmoil: awkward with her neighbors, exhausted by the demands of motherhood, a failure at domesticity.
Her husband, Ted, doesn't feel the same pressure. His professional life is on the up when a chance encounter with single-girl Penny offers a glimpse of the life he might have had, had he not blindly followed convention. Captivated, he tells a lie and then another. Lie by lie, he constructs a double life, convinced he can keep his two worlds separate, but can he?
Brilliantly observed and deeply moving, The Good Guy proves that the worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves.
'A sparkling debut, with a lifelike depiction of a time and place, and piercing insights into the fabled, and often tarnished, American dream' Lady
'Extremely well-written, intelligent and perceptive, this also happens to be a novel that slips down like ice-cream on a hot day. I absolutely loved it' Shiny New Books
'A delicious, slightly gossipy summer read with a Mad Men feel to it. I'd especially recommend this to readers who enjoyed The Longest Night by Andria Williams and Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann' Bookbag
'I fell into The Good Guy hook, line and sinker . . . utterly captivating' Last Word Review
A summer of love and deceit in 1960s New England.
Abigail has everything she's meant to want: a handsome, successful husband, a beautiful baby daughter, and a house in the suburbs. Inside, however, she's in turmoil: awkward with her neighbors, exhausted by the demands of motherhood, a failure at domesticity.
Her husband, Ted, doesn't feel the same pressure. His professional life is on the up when a chance encounter with single-girl Penny offers a glimpse of the life he might have had, had he not blindly followed convention. Captivated, he tells a lie and then another. Lie by lie, he constructs a double life, convinced he can keep his two worlds separate, but can he?
Brilliantly observed and deeply moving, The Good Guy proves that the worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves.
'A sparkling debut, with a lifelike depiction of a time and place, and piercing insights into the fabled, and often tarnished, American dream' Lady
'Extremely well-written, intelligent and perceptive, this also happens to be a novel that slips down like ice-cream on a hot day. I absolutely loved it' Shiny New Books
'A delicious, slightly gossipy summer read with a Mad Men feel to it. I'd especially recommend this to readers who enjoyed The Longest Night by Andria Williams and Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann' Bookbag
Reviews / Votes
A joy * Samantha Harvey, author of The Wilderness * Inspired by the author's own experience, The Good Guy is a story of marriage, self-deception and the pressure to conform in Sixties suburban New England * i * A delicious, slightly gossipy summer read with a Mad Men feel to it. I'd especially recommend this to readers who enjoyed The Longest Night by Andria Williams and Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann * Bookbag * There's definitely a Mad Men vibe to The Good Guy * Red, Best Books to Read this June * Fresh and lively * Daily Mail * Beale has crafted an engaging and harrowing portrait of womanhood and domestic life, astutely exploring the many ways in which distance and proximity can co-exist * Times Literary Supplement * Extremely well-written, intelligent and perceptive, this also happens to be a novel that slips down like ice-cream on a hot day. I absolutely loved it * Shiny New Books * What makes Beale's writing so poignant is her ability to paint her characters with such acute attention to detail * Dundee University Review of the Arts * The Good Guy is a very strong debut and a novel that kept me gripped to the very end. Beale is exceptional at creating believable characters that evoke genuine sympathy and scorn in equal measure * Book and Brew * The Good Guy is no honeyed exercise in nostalgia: it's an exploration of the deception and conformity at the heart of the American dream * Guardian Online * With echoes of Richard Yate's Revolutionary Road this is a tale of an outwardly idyllic marriage, that in private is unravelling horribly * Optima * A sparkling debut, with a lifelike depiction of a time and place, and piercing insights into the fabled, and often tarnished, American dream * Lady *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Murray Press
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
226 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4736-3036-9 (9781473630369)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Susan Beale
The Good Guy
A deeply compelling novel about love and marriage set in 1960s suburban America
E-Book
06/2016
John Murray Learning
€3.99
Available for download
Person
Susan Beale was brought up on Cape Cod and now lives in the UK. She is a recent graduate of the Bath Spa MA in Creative Writing. The Good Guy is her first novel. It was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2016.