The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (2021)
Laura’s Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
I was in the middle of reading this book and on a recent trip across the Midwest, when I stumbled upon the real Lincoln Highway! While the route is not as popular since the building of large capacity interstates, the historic roadway still exists and stretches 3,000 miles across the country to bring travelers from New York to California.
The Analysis:
This book follows Emmett Watson, a young man who has just gotten out of a juvenile detention camp after the passing of his father. He and his little brother Billy plan to settle some affairs, and then head west to start a new life. However, they are sidetracked along the way by several characters, including two of Emmett’s buddies that have escaped the detention center.
This book is by the same author who wrote A Gentleman in Moscow, which I absolutely loved, so I had high hopes. Towles really paints a picture of 1950s America and the cross country road trip feels like a grand adventure. Chapters are told from the perspective of different characters, which allows us to get inside their heads but also limits our understanding of what is going on at times. I enjoyed their varied backgrounds, but I think a few characters could have been cut out and it would have been better to focus on a smaller number and really flesh them out a bit more.
I did enjoy this book and was never bored, but it took me a while to get through it and I’m still unsure of whether I enjoyed the ending or not. The final scenes felt out of character for Emmett and I’m not sure of the exact reaction the author was looking to create. Despite the ending, I would still call The Lincoln Highway a well written adventure by a talented author.
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