Goodbye Earl

A Revenge Novel

By: Leesa Cross-Smith

Narrated by: Mela Lee, Kamali Minter, Sarah Beth Goer, Erin Bennett, Traci Odom, Julian Thomas

Four women take fate into their own hands in this big-hearted story of friendship, resilience, and revenge on monstrous men, from the award-winning author of Half-Blown Rose.

Taking inspiration from the infamous, empowering song, Goodbye Earl follows four best friends through two unforgettable summers, fifteen years apart.

In 2004, Rosemarie, Ada, Caroline, and Kasey are in their final days of high school and on the precipice of all the things teenagers look forward to when anything in life seems possible . . . from falling in love, to finding their dream jobs, to becoming who they were meant to be.

In 2019, Kasey has returned to her small Southern hometown of Goldie for the first time since high school—and she still hasn’t told even her closest friends the truth of what really happened that summer after graduation, or what made her leave so abruptly without looking back. Now reunited with her friends in Goldie for a wedding, she’s determined to focus on the simple joy of being together again. But when she notices troubling signs that one of them might be in danger, she is catapulted back to that fateful summer. This time, Kasey refuses to let the worst moments of her past define her; this time, she knows how to protect those she loves at all costs.

Uplifting, sharp-edged, and unapologetic, Goodbye Earl is a funeral for all the “Earls” out there—the abusive men who think they can get away with anything, but are wrong—and a celebration of enduring sisterhood.

©2023 Leesa Cross-Smith (P)2023 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"I can’t help devouring Leesa Cross-Smith’s prose like it's candy, with turns of phrase so unexpected and delightful, so uniquely her own, that I just want to chew and chew them. Filled with charming characters and beautiful details, Goodbye Earl makes murder as delicious as cherry pie."—Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen and The Girls From Corona Del Mar

Easy listening for a stress break

3 stars = solid story, nothing outstanding, no major flaws. Just a good book for the end of a stressful semester about the collective power of women when we choose to come together. Its also about our own blindness to who we really are, and the ways we miss living into our need for community. That was my take away from the third act, when certain people begin finally showing up for one another.

I did not have this kind of childhood so the ease of this foursome’s friendship and loyaltiy felt unreal to me. The beginning was a bit slow in that regard as well. Something about it all did not ring true to me. Most relationships don’t work out this way. But in that way it is also aspirational about what we ought to be to one another - as girls, as women.

If you want something deep and mysterious, this is not that. But its a good staple for a holiday break. I enjoyed it overall.

Love Love Love this book

Overall the audiobook was great. I did not like how all the officer voices were the same. Particularly Silas Castelow. He had been “voiced” in earlier chapters and when it got to the officer interviews the deep male voice just didn’t match up in my head.

Absolutely Loved it

I loved this story- so fun to listen to, and I was so sad when it ended.

Goodbye earl

I loved the friendships! The ups and down are told beautifully. This story took care of each person being told about and I hope to see it in a film one day!

What in the actual hell?!

The ending was not satisfying enough to me. I was preparing myself to cry about Roses, and then it ended! Besides that, I enjoyed the book. It's an easy, fun, emotionally charged book about friendship.

Very slow moving

This book took a long time for anything to really happen. The story drug on.

A Book About Sisterhood and Friendship

I love a good angry woman feminist revenge novel and I had a feeling I was going to love this one. I wasn't disappointed. At it's a core this is a novel about friendship and the lengths this friend group would go to protect each other. I will say that this is much slower paced than I had originally thought that it was going to be. This isn't what I would call a suspense, thriller or mystery novel. This definitely fell more on the side of women's fiction.

I loved the small southern town vibes. The author did a great job of making the community feel very closeknit. I think my favorite portion of the book was when all the different women in town came together to protect Caroline.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. Go in expecting to read a book of sisterhood and friendship, with a revenge plot that happens near the end of the book.

Nothing

This book had no substance or story. You need not punish yourself or anyone else.