Roadtrip

The Lincoln Highway

by Amor Towles

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐


The Lincoln Highway is a book about a June 1954 road trip with four unlikely compadres. 

Emmett Watson has just gotten home from juvenile detention. He is released early because his father had passed away. His mother is long gone and the family farm is foreclosed upon. He plans on taking his only remaining relative, little brother Billy, out West to build houses and make his fortune.

His plans are sidetracked when two of his buddies from juvie show up. Duchess is a piece of work, always looking for a scheme to make money. He brings  Woolley, another escapee from juvie. Woolley is the estranged youngest son of an old-money East coast family.

Among Billy's important possessions are nine postcards their mother sent home after she left the family when Billy was just a baby. The postcards trace her route westward along The Lincoln Highway, the first coast-to-coast roadway in the US. Billy insists that they retrace her route west. Emmett acquiesces to his brother's wish. Along with Duchess and Woolley, they jump in Emmett's baby-blue Studebaker to make the trip.

Early on, Duchess and Woolley steal the Studebaker, leaving Emmett and Billy stranded with no car and no money. Duchess plans on going to upstate New York to Woolley's family summer home, where Woolley allegedly has a ton of money stashed in a safe. The intrepid brothers hop on a freight train to follow the other two and reclaim the car. 

Many shenanigans ensue, which I won't reveal so as not to spoil any surprises. 

The story is told from many different points of view. Each chapter is told from the point of view of a character. Although the story is mostly written in the third person, Duchess' chapters are written in the first person. This device makes it clear that this is really Duchess' story. 

Another interesting aspect of the writing is that quotation marks are not used. Rather, each person's speech was prefaced with an em dash. I found this device off-putting at first but gradually came to like this style. It allowed Towles to combine dialog with other elements, such as what the character was thinking or doing while speaking.

Gradually, we learn the backstory of the three older boys, about their lives and why they landed in juvie. Emmett punched a kid who was bad-mouthing Emmett's mother. Unfortunately, the kid Emmett punched fell down, hit his head, and died. Woolley took a joyride in the town firetruck, intending to entertain small kids. Unfortunately, a fire erupted in a barn while Woolley had the firetruck, resulting in the death of several horses. Ironically, the only one without blame is Duchess, who had been sold out by his own con-man father. 

Each of the four learns some tough lessons along the way. The Lincoln Highway may take place during a road trip, but it is about learning to depend on others.