The Lincoln Highway

I didn't know much about Amor Towles' The Lincoln Highway other than it was written by the author of A Gentleman in Moscow. And that it was supposedly nothing like A Gentleman in Moscow. 

Biggest difference for me was that unlike the years it took for me to finish reading A Gentleman in Moscow, I whipped through The Lincoln Highway in just a few days. 

The Lincoln Highway is the very engaging tale of Emmett and his younger brother, Billy. Emmett has just been released from a stint at a reform school after his actions accidentally caused the death of another young man. He was released early because of the death of his father. Years earlier, Emmett and Billy's mom had left. The father, not fit for the farming life, had let the farm go into foreclosure before his death. The boys literally had nothing and were ready to make a fresh start. Somewhere else. Emmett dreams of a life flipping houses in Texas. And Billy dreams of finding their mother.

Billy found a stash of postcards from their mother. From those clues, he figures that their mom had set west on The Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the United States. He wants to follow The Lincoln Highway and search for her at the fireworks in San Francisco on the 4th of July. She always loved fireworks. Emmett gives in, figuring California has just the growth potential for his house flipping idea to make sense.

Who arrives on the scene but two of Emmett's friends from the reform school. Who have totally different ideas about what the immediate journey should look like. This is the journey the four end up taking. And The Lincoln Highway is the tale of that journey. Taking place over 10 days, it is told from multiple perspectives. From the perspective of each of the four young men, from the perspective of Sally, Emmett and Billy's closest neighbor in Nebraska. And from the perspective of a few others that they meet along the way.

I really enjoyed this novel but I wish I hadn't read it so close to finishing This Tender Land. The stories are nothing alike. But This Tender Land  was also the story of four young people on a journey. The strength of both of these novels is in the storytelling. I couldn't help but comparing the two when in reality there is no comparison.