The Lincoln Highway
October 20, 2021 12:37 PM - Subscribe
The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America.
In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to the City of New York.
In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to the City of New York.
I just finished. It is fast-paced & fun, and a minor entry in the canon of unreliable narrators / authors playing with POV & time to jar you out of your tropes & expectations. I fully expect this to be made into a movie in the style of "Stand By Me," it's got that feel to it. Above all, Towle is a storyteller, and a very convincing & entertaining one.
posted by chavenet at 3:32 AM on October 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by chavenet at 3:32 AM on October 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I just finished it and really loved it. I found this interview on the author's website to be thought-provoking after finishing the novel. Absolutely loved A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility so was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one, since many authors seem to just re-write the same novel over and over again with small details changed.
My brain decided that Woolly reminded it a lot of Neil from The Inbetweeners and then put in Jay as Duchess and Simon as Emmett.
posted by urbanlenny at 1:06 PM on March 26, 2022
My brain decided that Woolly reminded it a lot of Neil from The Inbetweeners and then put in Jay as Duchess and Simon as Emmett.
posted by urbanlenny at 1:06 PM on March 26, 2022
I just finished this and really, really loved it. Another “got it as a library book, now I probably need to buy it” read. I knew from the the moment that Duchess took the car (and probably even sooner) that they were never going to show us the boys meeting up with their mother, so I was ready for that. But I wanted to know if Ulysses got his happy ending. I know it wasn’t his story, and I love how his ‘ending’ was written. But man, even knowing the joirney and the seeking is literally the point of the story, I still wanted to know he was able to make it home to his wife and son.
posted by Mchelly at 2:39 PM on May 30, 2023
posted by Mchelly at 2:39 PM on May 30, 2023
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posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:55 PM on October 21, 2021 [1 favorite]