Amor Towles creates an American road trip of epic proportions
In 鈥淭he Lincoln Highway,鈥� Amor Towles tells an American tale with Homeric scope, but the novel ultimately fails to arrive at its destination.聽
In 鈥淭he Lincoln Highway,鈥� Amor Towles tells an American tale with Homeric scope, but the novel ultimately fails to arrive at its destination.聽
Early on in Amor Towles鈥� latest novel, 鈥淭he Lincoln Highway,鈥� a character named Duchess recalls wisdom he received at a young age while living at Saint Nicholas鈥� Home for Boys.聽
Sister Agnes had sermonized about wrongs committed versus injustices received 鈥� and the guilt and indignation resulting from each. 鈥淪ince it鈥檚 these debts 鈥� those we鈥檝e incurred and those we鈥檙e owed 鈥� that keep us stirring and stewing,鈥� realizes Duchess聽later, 鈥渢he only way to get a good night鈥檚 sleep is to balance the accounts.鈥�
This desire to balance accounts sets Duchess on a boisterous journey 鈥� one of many winding through the pages of Towles鈥� immersive, but ultimately uneven follow-up to his immensely popular second novel 鈥淎 Gentleman in Moscow.鈥�
It鈥檚 1954 in America鈥檚 heartland. Alongside Duchess, a philosopher-thief of good heart and bad judgment, travel three other boys with their own agendas in a 1948 Studebaker. Woolly, a privileged, gentle soul undone by his father鈥檚 death, searches for 鈥渁 one-of-a-kind kind of day.鈥� Moral, thoughtful Emmett, having paid a debt to society, itches to build a new life with his younger brother Billy far from his family鈥檚 foreclosed Nebraska farm.聽
It鈥檚 Billy鈥檚 mission that lands the group on the road. Earnest, open, and rarely without his treasured 鈥淧rofessor Abacus Abernathe鈥檚 Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers, and Other Intrepid Travelers,鈥� Billy yearns to follow the postcard-mapped path of their mother. In 1946, she left for San Francisco 鈥� for good 鈥� by way of the Lincoln Highway.
Built in 1912, the highway was the first in America to stretch coast-to-coast. Connecting Times Square in New York with South Bend, Indiana; Chicago; Omaha, Nebraska; and Cheyenne, Wyoming, the route embodies the escape the quartet seeks 鈥� if only for a few hours. Soon, plans go awry, side trips distract, characters disperse 鈥� and readers may wonder where the Studebaker will surface next.
Towles toggles the narrative between the four boys, plus a passel of secondary voices including Ulysses, a Black World War I veteran riding the rails; Pastor John, a conniving charlatan; and Sally, the no-fuss neighbor who鈥檚 more than ready for her own new path. The characters鈥� many vignettes, musings, and histories make for entertaining reading, even as the novel鈥檚 bigger plot points start to fray. Along with a perplexing structure, the novel鈥檚 abrupt ending cheats several characters out of their potential for growth.
Late in the book, Sally considers 鈥渢he mystery of our will to move.鈥� Is it vice or virtue that compels some to stay put and others to wander? It鈥檚 a question rich with possibility and complexity; for some, 鈥淭he Lincoln Highway鈥� and its many detours may not explore it far enough.