Early Leaving

“A mother goes to great lengths to defend her son in this sentimental domestic tale with a racial spin.” – Publishers Weekly

“Goldman’s brutally honest dramatization of a dysfunctional family makes provocative reading.” – Booklist

“Every mother should read Judy Goldman’s new novel, Early Leaving.” – Winston-Salem Journal

“It’s Early Leavings’ themes, rather than simply its plot, that make it a page-turning read.” – Lexington Herald-Leader

“Early Leaving is a disturbing book about a teenager who is given every advantage but still goes horribly wrong.” – Detroit Free Press

“As in her first novel, The Slow Way Back, Goldman displays a keen eye here for the character-defining detail.” – Washington Post

“Haunting questions of parenthood ripple through the pages of this thoughtful second novel.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Early Leaving is a delicate portrait of self-deception.” – Star News (Wilmington, N.C.)

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.