The Good Guy

Susan Beale

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

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