Sunday, July 8, 2012

NIGHT ROAD: A NOVEL (KRISTIN HANNAH)


Story Description: 

St. Martin’s Press|February 29, 2012|Hardcover||ISBN: 978-0-312-36442-7 

For a mother life comes down to a series of choices.  To hold on, to let go, to forget, to forgive.  Which road will you take.  Night Road? 

For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows – her twins, Mia and Zach are bright and happy teenagers.  When Lexi Baill moves into their small close-knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude.  Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend.  Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. 

Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way.  It has always been easy – until senior year of high school.  Suddenly she is at a loss.  Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them. 

On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true.  One decision will change the course of their lives.  In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything.  In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive.  

Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, NIGHT ROAD raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness.  It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope.  This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love. 

My Review: 

Night Road was a page-turner!  I felt warm and fuzzy at the friendship that Mia, Lexi, and Zach held onto so dearly.  They were thick as thieves and loved and respected each other in ways that a lot of us wish we had with our friends.  They knew how to love and respect each other and they knew how to have fun.  Then one night, in one moment it all ended and blame was to be laid at everyone’s feet. 

Jude, the everything mother; the father the surgeon; Zach; Mia; and Lexi all were to blame in one way or another but it was unfortunate that Lexi was the loser in this tragedy.  She spent 5 years of her life in jail for a crime that was everyone’s fault but someone had to pay the price and she did in more ways than one. 

After going to prison, she found out she was pregnant and had to give up her baby to be raised by Zach. Everyone in this family lost something but Lexi lost the most and would she ever gain back what was lost?  That remains to be seen.  I cried, I sympathized and I empathized throughout this novel.  The emotions the story provoked were amazing and I’ve never felt more sorry for a family than I did this one.  Kristin Hannah has done an awesome job in evoking all kinds of emotion and teaching us some good lessons about life along the way.  I would highly recommend this book!



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