Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick

I absolutely loved Goolrick`s last novel The Reliable Wife, it was a dazzler to say the least.
This book is its equal and although the stories told have similarities there are big differences. Told with a voice that pulls you in and refuses to let you go, this book is set in a small village called Brownsburg in 1948.
There isn`t a relevant issue that this book doesn`t cover all the while telling its central tale, a tale of love and obsession gone so horribly wrong as to be almost unbelievable.
Goolrick is an author who really knows how to paint pictures with words, be they dazzling, stunning, plain, evocative, gasp inducing; each word has its place and in its place it both shines and fits, not over written or over thought but just right  Goolrick`s ability to weave such a big tale in such an ordinary setting is a testimony to both is skill as a writer and his abilities as a conjurer because without those abilities neither of his novels would have been half of what they are.
If there is one character that stands out it is Charlie, who with Sylvan and Sam are the books axis, yet each of the accompanying characters in the story are as equally well drawn and are none the less a part of the story in anyway even if they only appear on a couple of pages.In my case I felt myself drawn towards the sad, pathetic and mad Boaty Glass and the almost heartbreaking, yet very clever Claudie. They get you thinking and even when you can place a character as being somewhat stereotypical this or that, there is still a uniqueness drawn in.
Although the central story is that of Charlie and Sylvan, there are many stories told in this novel, many lives exposed, many wants and needs hidden safely under the blanket of small town respectability, many hopes diminished, many views unexpressed all linked in the certitude of love and the power, good or bad it has over all.
This book is available on order but I would imagine it may be released here in Trade Paperback, The Reliable Wife is available in Paperback at most good booksellers. Both are available via the Library Service.