 |
This is a novel about running—running away from the present, running after the past, and running toward the future, simultaneously. Through the heroine’s mad dash for liberation, understanding, and hope, readers are swept into a multi-generational tale of the harm we inflict on each other, the secrets that stunt self-awareness, and the healing power of letting go.
Franniemarie is a middle-aged Nebraska housewife entombed in a stultifying existence. Two of her three children are dead. Her marriage has atrophied. The potential for change in her life is virtually non-existent. Then fate provides an escape hatch. She finds her husband trapped beneath his overturned tractor. Without immediate help, he’ll likely die, but she throws caution to the wind, necessities in her car, and races away to what she feels is her last chance at freedom. This apparent story of flight soon mutates into one of exploration as Franniemarie flees to the West Coast and becomes obsessed with uncovering her family’s bizarre history. It’s a journey that will lead to incomparable pain and profound epiphanies before offering potential redemption.
Elliott is a writer of consequence. By inhabiting her characters so thoroughly and empathetically, readers are drawn to their inherent humanity regardless of their flaws. She has a talent for interweaving past and present on the page much like it intermingles in the mind. Her depictions of place, while picturesque, are even more emotional as rock-strewn shorelines become sacred cathedrals. If you go along for the ride in this compelling tale, you'll be as ardent as Franniemarie in deciding to make a run for it.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review