The Lincoln Highway

Genre: Fiction

This is a story (set in the 1950's) of eighteen year old Emmett Watson who has just been released from a low security prison in Nebraska. Emmett and Billy's (his eight year old brother) mother left when the two boys were very young and they haven't heard from her. Their father recently died and now the two have learned that they have to leave the only home they've known, their family farm, because the farm has been foreclosed on. But the brothers have a plan. They're going to head to California and start anew and build a new family legacy. But before all of this can happen, two of Emmett's prison mates, Duchess and Woolly, escape and come to meet them. These two have their own plan to go to New York and collect Woolly's inheritance from a safe in his family's home. Emmett and Billy will make a detour on their way to California and head to New York and set out on a whole new adventure-one that is different than what they had originally planned. This story is told, alternately, from each of the characters' perspectives, including Emmett's childhood friend and neighbor, Sally, a spunky, self-righteous woman who turns out to be a real friend to the brothers. This is a story of friendship, family and learning to be self-sufficient through many of life's events.

I've learned that I am the kind of reader who really enjoys getting to know and falling in love with characters in stories-their imperfections and all. It's a really enjoyable journey. But when you have a story that is focused on the storyline and not so much the inner most thoughts of the characters, you can't really get to know the characters well enough. So this story left me wanting more. I particularly wanted to learn more about Billy's thoughts. What does an eight year old think of life without a mom and dad and being off on an escapade with this group of men? All that said, this lack of knowledge had me thinking about the characters, which kept me intrigued in the storyline and what happened in the past to get these characters to where are they are today. Tabor also wrote the book A Gentleman in Moscow, which I tried so hard to finish and just couldn't. I think I may go back and try to read it again (this will be my third time) and see if I can connect with the storyline, if not the characters, this time.