Cole has left London for a remote stretch of coast to try to outrun his heartbreak at the breakdown of his marriage. He’s haunted by what went wrong because he tried so hard to be the perfect husband: he doesn’t drink, he supported his wife’s career, he wanted to be the primary carer when they had kids, he identifies as a feminist. Also he can’t let go of the thought of the three viable embryos they still have on ice after Mel abruptly ended their IVF journey along with their marriage.
But then he meets Lennie, an artist who is living right on the edge of a crumbling cliff in a rickety cottage. She seems to share so many of his values and maybe he has been chasing the wrong things all this time. But just as their friendship appears to be turning romantic two young women, in the middle of a coast to coast walk to protest male violence against women, disappear almost outside Lennie’s front door.
As the media gets hold of the story and the women stay vanished, Cole falls under suspicion. Everyone has an opinion, from national newspapers to people on social media with only a few followers. And, as the days draw on, it seems increasingly unlikely the women will be found alive.
Told from three perspectives, first we hear from Cole, then his ex-wife Mel and finally Lennie. This book asks the question: if most men claim to be good, then why are most women still afraid to walk home alone at night. Because we still live in a society in which the bar to be a good man is as low as the bar to be a good woman is high.
TV News
One of the Good Guys has been optioned by Elisabeth Moss’ production company, Love & Squalor.