Title: The Road to Me by Laura Drake
Publisher: The Story Plant
Genre: Contemporary, Family Fiction
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Jacqueline Oliver is an indie perfumer, trying to bury her ravaged childhood by shoveling ground under her own feet. Then she gets a call she dreads—the hippie grandmother she bitterly resents was apprehended when police busted a charlatan shaman’s sweat lodge. Others scattered, but Nellie was slowed by her walker, and the fact that she was wearing nothing but a few Mardi-Gras beads. Jacqueline is her only kin, so, like it or not, she’s responsible.
Despite being late developing next year’s scent, Jacqueline drops everything to travel to Arizona and pick up her free-range grandma. But the Universe conspires to set them on a Route 66 road trip together. What Jacqueline discovers out there could not only heal the scars of her childhood but open her to a brighter future.
Review:
The Road to Me by Laura Drake is a heartwarming novel of forgiveness, healing and self-discovery.
Jacqueline “Jack” Oliver is not at all happy she has to rescue her feisty grandmother Nellie from her latest shenanigans. Her relationship with Nellie is complicated and full of unresolved pain but Jacqueline gives in when her grandmother wants to take one last road trip. Jacqueline is often frustrated by Nellie’s hippie nonsense but she eventually tries to just go with the flow. Some stops along their trip are eyebrow raising but over the course of a few days, the secrets she learns provide much needed insight into Nellie’s life. And along the way, Jacqueline learns a lot about herself. But will these revelations lead to changes in her life when she returns home?
Ohh, boy, is Jacqueline ever furious with Nellie for her latest antics. She is on a tight schedule because of her perfume business but she decides to indulge her grandmother’s desire to see the Grand Canyon one last time. Jacqueline has never been able to forgive Nellie for doing nothing to save her from her chaotic, dysfunctional childhood. She still carries these painful memories and she clings tightly to control while keeping people at arms’ length. Can a few days with Nellie heal the deep wounds she cannot seem to let go of?
Nellie is quite the character and she has always lived life on her own terms. She tends to live in the present and she spent a lot of her life going wherever the road led her. On this unexpected road trip, Nellie takes Jack on a journey that revisits some of her most painful yet also happiest memories. Will their last stop bring them closer together?
The Road to Me is an entertaining and meaningful novel that is quite captivating. Jacqueline and Nellie are vibrantly developed, well-rounded characters who are flawed but relatable. The various stops on the trip spring vividly to life and are easy to visualize. The situations they sometimes find themselves in are laugh out loud funny. The storyline is engrossing and multi-layered. Laura Drake brings this heartfelt novel to a poignant yet uplifting conclusion.
