The Toll Road North
I was provided with a copy of The Toll Road North to review. These are my honest thoughts on the book.
TL;DR: Outstanding read. If you like books that delve into family experiences while bringing together people’s connections like puzzle pieces, you’ll love this. Did you grow up in Lewiston or in a Catholic Franco household or neighborhood? Definitely read it.
In The Toll Road North, a gunman’s actions in a Lewiston sandwich shop result in a series of events that pull main character Dee into the past, or, as the book’s opening so artfully states, “the place in her memory that she has kept locked.”
When I first read the summary of The Toll Road North, I was intrigued. Then I was skeptical - mostly because my personal taste in books doesn’t often run to the ‘action’ side of things, and that’s what the hostage situation bit of the summary seemed to point towards. However, I quickly found The Toll Road North to be an outstanding read. It’s mostly poignant, but there are some comedic moments and some outright sad moments and overall it comes together to paint a comprehensive picture of life and community.
The hostage situation was integral to the plot, but it wasn’t an overly-long action scene. Instead, much of the book’s story takes place in the past, exploring Dee’s childhood, her parents’ relationship and their friendships, individual and familial shame, and community connections. Class differences, old friendships, and old conflicts all come into play.
It was easy to become invested in the characters and in the mystery of how they would all fit together. Dee may be the main character, but every character is uniquely developed and has a story that matters, children and adults alike.
As the book moves more fully into the present, mysteries continue to be unraveled and Dee continues to develop as a person, in ways that impact her relationship with her husband, her son, and others.
My one quibble with the book relates to the ending - that in the modern world the idea that none of Dee’s neighbors in Connecticut would have been exposed to the news about her past and connections to the gunman stretches the imagination a bit.
I don’t want to say much more, as I fear every tidbit revealed in a review may unveil one of the connections that it’s so wonderful to uncover as you read The Toll Road North.