Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles’s third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes.īorn and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from Stanford University. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car.

His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head west where they can start their lives anew. In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter. His ability to create people who we can relate to and cheer for, despite mistakes they make and have made, is a testament to how successfully he writes about the human condition.Īlthough at times there are sections of the large novel that feel a little bit lengthy, overall this was an enjoyable story and one with some great twists and turns.The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America Towles has created a variety of characters, none of whom are perfect, and all of whom have some kind of mistake or issue from their past.

Towles has created beautiful setting in this novel, and combines it with an exciting and interesting plot, and fascinating, multi-layered characters. Towles is amazing at his descriptions of older time periods, which allow the reader to truly feel like they are getting a sense of what the sights, sounds, and smells of that age were like. What follows is an exciting road trip adventure over the next couple of weeks.Īuthor Amor Towles, well known for his bestselling A Gentleman in Moscow, has written another successful historical fiction, this time in 1950s America.

However, two friends from the prison found a way to sneak in the trunk of the warden’s car, and they have a different plan for Emmett and his brother. He is happy to get home, looking forward to making a new start out west with his young brother, as his father recently passed away and his mother left the family long ago. In 1954, teenager Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of a prison after serving a year for involuntary manslaughter. Read 477-page hardcover edition in December 2022

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