‘Time to take the big leap’: Reese Witherspoon’s first novel hits the shelves

Oscar-winning actor and producer has written Gone Before Goodbye with bestselling author Harlan Coben

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or more than three decades, Reese Witherspoon has been many things to many people: the Oscar-winning star of Walk the Line; the pink-clad Elle Woods of Legally Blonde; the Hollywood producer who brought Gone Girl and Big Little Lies to the screen. Now, she’s adding another title to her résumé: novelist.

This month, the 49-year-old releases her first work of fiction, Gone Before Goodbye, co-written with the bestselling thriller author Harlan Coben.

Already tipped to hit the bestseller lists on publication, the book follows Maggie McCabe, a former army combat surgeon who takes a discreet medical job for an anonymous client – only for a patient to vanish under her care, setting off an international conspiracy. “I’ve never had an idea for a novel before,” Witherspoon said recently. “I’m always the actor who shows up and executes someone else’s vision. I thought, maybe it’s time to take the big leap and build the world myself.”