I’d highly recommend this great read that will transport you to the adventures and attempts for redemption of the young men involved. I loved that the book switched between different points of view, and particularly loved when we heard from Billy and Ulysses- both heroes in their own special ways. Each of the characters have been created with care and depth, from the main protagonists that we follow throughout, to the supporting cast who add richness to the story line, intrigue and suspense. But their plans are scuppered by the arrival of two escaped inmates from Salina - Duchess and Woolley, and their escapades take a very different turn. So the boys hatch a plan to travel the Lincoln Highway, the first road to cross the USA coast to coast, to see if they can find their mother who left them eight years before. He is returned home to take guardianship of his younger brother Billy, but knows they can’t stay in their home town of Nebraska after the crime that sent him away. It’s 1954 and Emmett Watson has just been released from a young offenders institute, Salina, following the death of his father. So I was very excited to have the opportunity to read The Lincoln Highway via #netgalley I read A Gentleman in Moscow a few years ago and loved the rich characters and the way the book captured the times within which the story was set.

Overall, another delightful novel from Towles who continues to be an author who is an automatic must-read for me and in spite of the minor gripes above, is on my list of Highly Recommended novels for 2021.

On the other hand, there are certain elements of the book that feel unbelievable - whether that's by virtue of the coincidences along the way or because we the readers are asked to believe that literally all the characters are well-read and beautifully articulate, in spite of their backgrounds. There are literary allusions throughout and the book feels pacy, even though it's in excess of 550 pages, which is no mean feat. Rules of Civility, another for Towles's books had the beautiful setting (that I seem to need?) but I don't think the writing was quite as well-developed as these last two books. While both books are beautifully written and have incredible, well-developed characters, there was a quirkiness, warmth and an almost-magical setting in A Gentleman in Moscow that for me is missing here. So why the 4*? I'm comparing this, inevitably, with Towles's previous work: A Gentleman in Moscow, which is one of my all-time favourite books.

This book is certain to win awards and be on bestseller lists (deservedly so) for some time.

The lincoln highway a novel reviews