Books Set in North America; United States

The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles (2021)

 

The Lincoln Highway was one of the earliest transcontinental highway routes in the United States.  It was formally dedicated in 1913 and ran from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.

 

The novel, The Lincoln Highway, begins in June 1954 in Nebraska, roughly the half-way point of the Highway.  Beginning a story in the middle is a subtle theme of this novel, thus it is no coincidence that a trek along this transcontinental highway has its starting point in the middle of the country..

 

The novel follows four boys, three teenagers who met at a reform school and one of the boy’s 8-year-old brother.  The novel begins when the warden of the reform school brings Emmett Watson to his home following the death of his father.  Emmett is now responsible for his young brother, Billy.  He plans to depart for San Francisco to find his mother who had abandoned the family several years earlier.

 

His plans are derailed, however, when, Duchess and Woolly, his pals from the reform school appear.  They had escaped from the reformatory by hiding in the trunk of the warden’s car.  Woolly, who comes from a monied family in New York City, has a trust fund of $150,000 in New York.  Trouble-maker Duchess convinces Woolly and Emmett to travel to New York where they can get the money and divide it in thirds.  The night before Emmett and Billy are to leave for California, Duchess and Woolly “borrow” Emmett’s blue Studebaker and take off for New York.

 

So, instead of heading towards California, Emmett and Billy must get the car back.  They hop on a boxcar and travel to New York to find Duchess and the car.  The novel is told through the perspective of each of characters, thus giving the reader insight into the actions that take place in the novel.  We learn of the adventures that Emmett and Billy have on their train ride as well as the car travel of Duchess and Woolly.

 

I enjoyed the novel, but I found some parts to strain one’s credibility.  There is no denying, however, that the four boys are in for an adventure of a lifetime.

 

Read:  January 20, 2022

 

4 Stars

 

 

Books Set in the United States: New York City

Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles (2011)

Rules of Civility begins when a middle-aged couple are viewing a retrospective exhibition of Walker Evans photographs, taken during the 1930s.  They come across two portraits of a man taken years apart.  The first shows a handsome young man who appears as a man of wealth. In the second photograph, he appears down on his luck.  The man, whom the wife recognizes as Tinker Gray, was once an important figure in the her past.  Seeing the photographs causes the woman to reminisce of her life back as a young woman making her way in New York City.

Katey Kontent is the narrator.  She remembers back when she first moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan and worked as a secretary in a law firm and lived in a boarding house.  On New Year’s Eve 1937, she and her friend Eve, went out on the town and in a chance encounter met Tinker Grey.  He was a handsome young banker, and both Eve and Katey fall in love with him.  Soon the three of them were inseparable until a car accident occurred and Eve was seriously injured.  She recovered, and soon after she and Tinker set off for Europe.

Through Tinker, Katey was able to rub elbows with the wealthy and highly connected in New York society.  She landed a plum job as an assistant to the publisher of a hot new magazine, which allowed her to further enter the world of the rich and famous.  Tinker and Eve were always on her mind, however.  When Eve suddenly returned to New York, having become bored with Tinker, Katey looked to renew her relationship with Tinker. But was he who she thought he was.

There is a mystery surrounding Tinker and there were vague hints to his “situation”, which Katey had never explored before.

I enjoyed this book, but found it a bit hard to get into at first.  The author certainly painted a vivid picture of life amount the young inherited wealth in New York in the 1930s.

Read: September 2, 2018

3 Stars

Books Set in Europe/Asia: Russia

A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles (2016)

The novel begins in the summer of 1922 when Count Alexander Rostov, an unrepentant aristocrat is placed under house arrest in Moscow’s luxurious Metropol hotel by a Bolsehvik tribunal.  Although he had a suite in the hotel, after his sentence (for the crime of writing a poem) he finds himself confined to a small room in the belfry.  He settles into his surroundings, initially thinking he can carry on as usual.  When he goes into the barber shop for his weekly trim, he is in for a rude awakening.  Yet he remains ever the optimist.

He soon befriends Nina, a young precocious girl.  Together they regularly dine and play little games.  Nina has discovered all the secret passages within the hotel, and shares her knowledge with Rostov.  She has a copy of the master key to all the rooms that allows the two to enter the various guest rooms and offices as will.

Rostov becomes the head waiter in the hotel’s fancy restaurant, the Boyarsky.  He meets people from the “outside” and develops strong relationships with many of the hotel staff.  Nina grows up, marries and has a daughter, Sofia, of her own.  During a political purge, Nina’s husband is sent off to Siberia.  Before leaving to find him, Nina asks Rostov to watch Sofia for a few days.  A few days turns into years.  Rostov, concerned for Sofia’s future, uses his resources and connections to plot a plan to protect the young girl left in his care.

I found this novel to be very charming.  The characters were well developed and most were very likable.

Read:  June 24, 2017

4.5 Stars