Goodbye Without Leaving

An insightful domestic comedy, at once hilarious and extremely moving, Goodbye Without Leaving is the story of a woman's attempt to remain true to herself in a world of diminishing returns. As a bored graduate student, Geraldine Colshares is plucked from her too-tame existence when she is invited to tour as the only white backup singer for Vernon and Ruby Shakely and the Shakettes. The years she spends as a Shakette are a mixed blessing, however, for while they provide her with purpose and excitement, she ultimately submits to a conventional life of marriage, children, and bittersweet memories of what comes to seem a glorious past. With her usual dry wit and candor, Laurie Colwin follows Geraldine as she tries to reconcile her past with her future, to be an adult and still boogie in her soul.

Laurie Colwin is the author of five novels: Happy All the Time; Family Happiness; Goodbye Without Leaving; Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object; and A Big Storm Knocked It Over; three collections of short stories: Passion and Affect, Another Marvelous Thing, and The Lone Pilgrim; and two collections of essays: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking. She died in 1992.