“It’s okay to head out for wonderful, but on your way to wonderful you’re going to have to pass through all right. And when you get to all right, take a good look around and get used to it because that may be as far as you’re going to go.” 

Heading Out to Wonderful does not stop short of wonderful. It is, as O Magazine said, “deliciously dark and dangerous.” 

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

An attractive and enigmatic stranger wanders into the sleepy town of Brownsburg, VA in the 1940s. He is carrying two suitcases: one contains all his worldly possessions, including a set of butcher’s knives. The other is full of money. Charlie Beale quickly finds a job at the local butcher shop, and through his work there meets the townspeople, including Sylvan Glass, the beautifully, eccentric teenage bride of the town’s richest man.

Told through the eyes of a young boy, this much-anticipated second novel from Robert Goolrick is an exciting, erotically charged, and utterly unforgettable story of love gone terribly wrong in a place where once upon a time such things could happen.

“Beautifully written, striking in its imagery, Heading Out to Wonderful is a passionate and tragic story of a love affair that is entirely consuming yet completely forbidden,” said Garth Stein, author of the bestselling The Art of Racing in the Rain. “Robert Goolrick has crafted another rich, evocative, and sometimes unsettling story.”

Take a peek at Heading Out to Wonderful with these excerpts and an essay about Robert Goolrick’s inspiration for the novel: Excerpt 1, Excerpt 2, Excerpt 3, Essay.

You can purchase Heading Out to Wonderful at IndieBound independent bookstores, Powell’s, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.