Synopses & Reviews
Is it possible for a mother to love her child too much?This is the question that haunts Kathryne Smallwood the night before her son, Early, faces sentencing for killing another teenager.
Kathryne has devoted her life to her only child. She has made herself present in his every activity, every decision, every move, in hopes of protecting him. But it may just be this powerful force that sends her son spiraling in the opposite direction.
Critically acclaimed author Judy Goldman tells a riveting, deeply moving story of a well-to-do southern family whose smooth, easy lives are suddenly disrupted irreversibly. As Kathryne Smallwood waits for morning and her son's fate, she searches her memory for details of his life and her own to discover where she went wrong, how she could have stopped the unspeakable act her eighteen-year-old son has committed. All she ever wanted was to keep him safe and happy. Isn't that what every mother wants? Kathryne realizes, too late, that the hardest part of parenting might be knowing when to hold back. Now she must come to terms with Early's leaving and what to do when her one reason for living is gone.
Goldman presents a wise, sharp-eyed invitation to explore the nature of family and, in particular, the nature of marriage and parenting -- how we think we're doing the right thing when what we're really doing is following our own hungers.
Review
“As in her first novel, The Slow Way Back, Goldman displays a keen eye here for the character-defining detail.” Washington Post
Review
“Every mother should read Judy Goldmans new novel, Early Leaving.” Winston-Salem Journal
Review
“Goldmans brutally honest dramatization of a dysfunctional family makes provocative reading.” Booklist
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“Early Leaving is a delicate portrait of self-deception.” Star News (Wilmington, N.C.)
Review
“A mother goes to great lengths to defend her son in this sentimental domestic tale with a racial spin.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“Its Early Leavings themes, rather than simply its plot, that make it a page-turning read.” Lexington Herald-Leader
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“Early Leaving is a disturbing book about a teenager who is given every advantage but still goes horribly wrong.” Detroit Free Press
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“Haunting questions of parenthood ripple through the pages of this thoughtful second novel.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Synopsis
From the critically acclaimed author of "The Slow Way Back" comes this piercingly honest, stunning portrait of a mother whose overwhelming love has dark repercussions for her only child.
About the Author
Judy Goldman's first novel, The Slow Way Back, won the Sir Walter Raleigh Fiction Award and the Mary Ruffin Poole First Work of Fiction Award, and was a finalist for the Southeast Booksellers Association's Best Novel of the Year. She is also the author of two books of poetry. Her work has been published widely in literary journals, and her commentaries have aired on public radio. She and her husband live in Charlotte, North Carolina. They have two married children and twin granddaughters.