Madeline
Kristin Hannah is one of my go-to authors when I am looking for a new book to read. At this point, I have read six of her 54 books, my favorite being her most popular, The Nightingale. With full transparency, not all of her books are great and I find myself avoiding many of her earlier titles. BUT the books that are good, are really good. Night Road fits in the category of really good.
One of the things that I love about Kristin Hannah is she focuses on a few characters over a span of time. She really takes these characters and makes you love them… or hate them. Regardless you feel like you know them. Night Road follows three young people starting in high school, into a traumatic event that changes their lives forever, and how it affects their lives well into their late 20s. Half the book is the before the event and the other half is after each half looking very different from its compliment.
One of the main characters, Lexi, is bounced from foster home to foster home until she lands in a modest trailer park with a distant aunt. Although their neighborhood is a bit rough, her aunt is able to get her into a good school in a privileged nearby neighborhood. This is where Lexi meets her soon to be ride or die best friend, Mia, and soon after, her twin brother Zach. The entire book has the underlying theme of the privilege of the twins next to the modest life of Lexi.
After the traumatic event, this theme of privilege versus poor gets even more elevated. And throw in a love story for good measure and enhanced complexity. This book will make you laugh. It will definitely make you cry. And all the while you will be thinking “if only…”
