A Novel with Thoughts and Ponderings

NIGHT ROAD

Author: Kristin Hannah ISBN: 9780312364427 4/2011 CONTEMPORARY FICTION Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS

Night Road by Kristin Hannah
For a mother, life comes down to a series of choices.
To hold on…
To let go…
To forget…
To forgive…
Which road will you take?

For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers.  When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude.  Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend.  Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.   

Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way.  It has always been easy— until senior year of high school.  Suddenly she is at a loss.  Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them. 

On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives.  In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything.  In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS: 4 Rose Read

The sins of the mothers are visited on the daughters in this achingly real, beautifully characterized novel. While utterly predictable, it ends in a happier place than this story might in real life.

Jude Farraday is a self-satisfied, well-to-do housewife orchestrating the lives of her twin teenage children. This brittle woman knows she’s better than other people and makes that clear to her fragile daughter’s new friend, trailer trash and ex-foster kid Lexi. While her daughter may be desperate enough to have her as a friend, Lexi is to stay away from golden boy Zach. But, teens will be teens, and having little respect for mother’s rules break them in predictable ways in a small town, particularly when they have too much time and money on their hands. Disaster strikes, and Jude takes her revenge on Lexi.

Fast-forward six years, and the Farradays’ lives have fallen apart emotionally. Lexi had trusted them, but when she sees they didn’t come through for her, the girl who couldn’t afford to make a mistake and did, finally stands up for herself in a beautiful scene about eighty percent of the way into the novel.

Along the way, Jude learns that in many ways she’s become her mother, while Lexi falls into that trap briefly, then works to dig herself out again.

I can’t say I enjoyed NIGHT ROAD, because I didn’t respect the characters, but I understood them and believed they could really exist.

Heather Hiestand

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