The Lincoln Highway (Amor Towles) - We all see the same world but look at it differently.
The Lincoln Highway takes you to post WW II USA and the life of the young across social hierarchies in a country that is still figuring things out, much as the main characters are. If A Gentleman in Moscow is set in the political milieu of post WW I Russia, this one is set in the social landscape of 1950s America. As is true for any time period, the young try to make sense of the world around them, find their way through the labyrinth and figure things out.
Emmet returns home from a correctional facility when his father dies, primarily to take charge of his little brother Billy. His plans are laid out clearly in his head. He has a car, a little capital, some skill and the ability to work hard to make his plans work out. But his friends have other plans for him. Duchess and Woolly arrive and each tries to help Emmet and Billy in his and her own way, the result of which is that they go further from the Lincoln Highway and their destination, than towards it.
The stories of all the young people in the book - Emmet, Duchess and Woolly, but also Townhouse and Sally, weave an intricate pattern - each adding to the other and making sense of the other. Emmet comes from a broken household but a father who was loving and responsible, even if unintelligent in his business and went bankrupt. Woolly comes from a long line of illustrious ancestors, has never experienced want or hardship, but is burdened with a mind that looks for simplicity and patterns in everything. And finally Duchess, who has never seen a stable home or hearth, has a scoundrel for a father and yet has an acute sense of fairness. There is Sally, the only female character with a substantial presence in the book, who is yearning for a life where she can take care of herself and herself only, and is looking for an escape. If the innocence of 18 year olds was not endearing enough, there is Billy, all of 8, who looks at the world through his eyes full of wonder and delight. Each chapter, told from the vantage point of different characters, gives a different perspective to the same incident. We all see the same world, but look at it differently.
On the flip side, some of the characters brought in don't add much to the story. Ulysses, Pastor John, Prof Abernathe - all have their cameos, but only take away from the plot. In a story that already has many threads to weave, this could have been avoided, without taking away anything from the story or the characters.
This book totally deserves a sequel. Do Emmet and Billy reach California? Do they find their mother? Do Emmet's plans of getting rich come true? How is Billy as a teenager? Does Sally get the life she yearns for? And what of Duchess? Over to you Amor Towles.
To order:
https://www.amazon.in/Lincoln-Highway-Times-Number-Bestseller/dp/1529157641/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
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