The Good Goodbye: A Novel - Softcover

"Cousins as close as sisters, a mysterious fire, a tangled web of lies: It all adds up to a fluid, suspenseful story that keeps you turning the pages to find out what happened--and what will happen next. I devoured this novel."--Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train

"[Carla] Buckley's writing is totally addictive. . . . Equal parts Judith Guest's Ordinary People and Lisa Gardner at her best, this is a stupendous effort by a major talent."--The Providence Journal

"[The Good Goodbye] offers plenty of thematic richness to accompany its suspenseful plot. . . . [Readers] will find their thoughts returning to the story, especially its affecting final scenes, long after it comes to a close."--Bookreporter

"Each chapter reveals a tantalizing new detail that further complicates the cousins' bond. . . . Buckley's characters are well-developed and interesting."--Publishers Weekly

"A journey through two marriages and a lifelong competitive friendship . . . The mystery of the fire runs through it all. . . . For readers who enjoy Jodi Picoult's family dramas."--Booklist

"A tender portrait of an ordinary family torn by rivalry and disaster . . . By turns touching and sinister, The Good Goodbye calls to mind Robert Frost's definition of tragedy: something terrible happens and nobody's to blame--though in Carla Buckley's sure hands, nobody's entirely innocent, either. A rich and satisfying family drama."--William Landay, New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob

"Carla Buckley has a way of writing about a family in crisis that touches on our worst fears, and an uncanny ability to create characters who are so real it's as though they are pulling you into their living room. Evocative and poignant, this story will curl around you like a glowing flame and suck the air out of your lungs with its power."--Chevy Stevens, New York Times bestselling author of Those Girls

"Terrific . . . a deep dive into the mysteries of long friendships, parenthood, and the stories we build our lives on . . . Carla Buckley has written a book that grabs you on the first page, breaks your heart, and leaves you hopeful."--Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of The Fixer

"Elegant and emotional, deeply affecting . . . Carla Buckley has done it again, writing an exquisitely troubling, psychologically complex novel that grabs the reader on page 1 and never lets go."--Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Language of Sisters

"Twisty and beguiling, Carla Buckley's The Good Goodbye shudders with revelations from its first pages. As suspense, it ensnares you, and as an emotionally rich novel about the formidable and fraught bonds of family, it will have you holding your breath until its final, moving paragraphs."--Megan Abbott, author of The Fever

For fans of Jodi Picoult comes an enthralling domestic thriller about the lies we tell, and let ourselves believe, in the name of love.

The first thing you should know is that everyone lies. The second thing is that it matters.

How well do we know our children? Natalie Falcone would say she knows her daughter, Arden, very well. Despite the challenges of running a restaurant and raising six-year-old twin boys, she’s not too worried as she sends her daughter off to college—until she gets the call that Arden’s been in a terrible fire, along with her best friend and cousin, Rory. Both girls are critically injured and another student has died. The police suspect arson.

Arden and Rory have always been close, but they have secrets they’ve never shared, secrets that reel all the way back to their childhoods, and which led them to that tragic night. Who set the fire, and why? As the police dig deep into both the present and the past, Natalie realizes that in order to protect her daughter, she’ll first have to find out who Arden really is, even if it means risking everything—and everyone—she loves most.

Praise for The Good Goodbye

“A fluid, suspenseful story that keeps you turning the pages to find out what happened—and what will happen next. I devoured this novel.”—Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train

“[Carla] Buckley’s writing is totally addictive. . . . Equal parts Judith Guest’s Ordinary People and Lisa Gardner at her best, this is a stupendous effort by a major talent.”—The Providence Journal

“Offers plenty of thematic richness to accompany its suspenseful plot . . . [Readers] will find their thoughts returning to the story, especially its affecting final scenes, long after it comes to a close.”—Bookreporter

“Each chapter reveals a tantalizing new detail that further complicates the cousins’ bond. . . . Buckley’s characters are well-developed and interesting.”—Publishers Weekly

“A journey through two marriages and a lifelong competitive friendship . . . The mystery of the fire runs through it all. . . . For readers who enjoy Jodi Picoult’s family dramas.”—Booklist