WOW! I really loved Amor Towles’ newest novel, “The Lincoln Highway.”

This was a book pretty long book by most standards at 576 pages, but I found that I couldn’t put it down. I finished it surprisingly fast, in about 3 days!

Towles’ novel has a fast pace and engaging narrative. The book is narrated by at least half a dozen characters. Their stream of consciousness accounts and his use of “in medias res” ensures that there is never a dull moment in the tale as you are constantly piecing together new parts of the story. I loved Towles’ character development in the story. I also appreciated Towles’ use of Greek mythology and Shakespearean references throughout the novel.

Emmett Watson has been recently released for a juvenile detention facility at a “farm” in Salina, Kansas. His father has died and his early release was secured so that he can put his family’s matters in order and take care of his younger brother. His younger brother, Billy has a harebrained idea to go find his mother, who left them with their father about a decade earlier. He has learned of a newly completed Lincoln highway, that extends across America from New York City to San Francisco. With the bank foreclosing on the house and Emmett wanting to a new start in somewhere that isn’t Nebraska, he agrees to set out on the journey. However, from day one, the journey becomes more of an odyssey filled with unexpected twists and turns along the way.

This was a really entertaining and insightful historical fiction set in the 1950s, after World War II and at the start of the Cold War. I highly recommend!

Get a copy of “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles from Amazon here.