Amor Towles: The Lincoln Highway, 9780593489338, C format paperback, International Edition, Penguin USA

 

Amor Towles novel “A Gentleman in Moscow” is one of my all-time favorite reads and I was very thrilled to finally hold his new book “The Lincoln Highway” in my hands.  But boy, the unexpected happened:   I had such a hard time getting into this very different book, until 250 pages down (567 pages total!)  I finally let go of the idea that Towles writing was a continuation of “A Gentleman in Moscow” but rather the voices of four juvenile runaways in a 1950ties American who are at the center of “The Lincoln Highway”.   

Eighteen yr. old Emmett Watson is driven home by a warden to Morgen/Nebraska after having served his time in a juvenile work camp.  With the foreclosure of their family farm and their father’s death, he and his 8 year old brother Billy plan to drive the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco where they hope to find their mother who abandoned them several years ago...  Little does Emmett know that two of his work camp friends, Duchess and Woolly, had hitched a ride as stowaways in the warden’s car, forcing Emmett to change his plans entirely rerouting their trip into the opposite direction,  heading for New York where Woolly’s wealthy  family lives.  And so begins a very multi-layered story, with several stories within a story similar to Marquez plots.  In alternating chapters Emmett, Duchess, Woolly and Billy tell their version of their 10 day adventure, with a cast of colorful characters like the preacher or Ulysses making guest appearances. Billy, Emmett’s little brother, who has slightly autistic characteristic was my favorite,   followed by gutsy no-nonsense Sally, one of Emmett’s friends from his hometown.   Towles is a master in how he unfolds the formative past of the three unforgettable main characters, Emmett, Duchess and Woolly with each passing day of the trip and how he ties it all up in the end. 

 At times it felt like I was reading a YA novel which irritated me in the beginning but once I settled into this coming-of-age, road trip adventure story, I was won over.   “The Lincoln Highway” will not go down as my favorite Towles novel, but I am positive many will completely fall in love with this captivating, multifaceted tale.