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A review by amyvl93
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Amor Towles' two previous novels are favourites of mine, I loved their characters and settings and so a new full length novel was hotly awaited. However, unfortunately The Lincoln Highway didn't really do it for me.
The novel follows Emmett, who has been released from youth prison following a freak accident, and returns to his farm home following the death of his father. He plans to travel with his brother to a new life in California but this plan is derailed when his fellow inmates Duchess and Woolly have escaped with him and have their owns plans to head to New York.
Now whilst this may not have hit the heights for me of his previous works, Towles writing is excellent as ever. There's something about his prose that can really sweep you up into a story, and the sense of place was excellent - both the rural small town settings and the streets of New York. This is an American road trip novel, which is a tradition I'm not steeped in, so I'm aware that I may have missed some references to novels and films, as there were definitely times where I found the zany cast of characters that the characters came across got a little wearing.
My biggest challenge with this novel was the fundamentally unlikeable character of Duchess. I think the text wanted us to find sympathy for him; and I definitely recognised the pain of his upbringing but other than that I found him a horrendously selfish character and I struggled to spend time with his perspective. Whilst all the characters, except maybe Billy - Emmett's brother, were complex flawed characters, but Duchess had my back right up as I could never quite understand his motivations for any of his choices.
It's a shame this didn't live up to my expectations, but I still look forward to what Towles writes next.
The novel follows Emmett, who has been released from youth prison following a freak accident, and returns to his farm home following the death of his father. He plans to travel with his brother to a new life in California but this plan is derailed when his fellow inmates Duchess and Woolly have escaped with him and have their owns plans to head to New York.
Now whilst this may not have hit the heights for me of his previous works, Towles writing is excellent as ever. There's something about his prose that can really sweep you up into a story, and the sense of place was excellent - both the rural small town settings and the streets of New York. This is an American road trip novel, which is a tradition I'm not steeped in, so I'm aware that I may have missed some references to novels and films, as there were definitely times where I found the zany cast of characters that the characters came across got a little wearing.
My biggest challenge with this novel was the fundamentally unlikeable character of Duchess. I think the text wanted us to find sympathy for him; and I definitely recognised the pain of his upbringing but other than that I found him a horrendously selfish character and I struggled to spend time with his perspective. Whilst all the characters, except maybe Billy - Emmett's brother, were complex flawed characters, but Duchess had my back right up as I could never quite understand his motivations for any of his choices.
It's a shame this didn't live up to my expectations, but I still look forward to what Towles writes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, and Death of parent