The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles

I recently read Amor Towles’s The Lincoln Highway for one of my book clubs. His wonderful A Gentleman in Moscow is one of my favorite novels of all time, and I had high hopes for The Lincoln Highway. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

I’m glad I read the book, and I liked the characters . . . until I wanted to shake them. Four boys, each with flaws, and each engaging in his own way. But the combination proved deadly.

Whereas A Gentleman in Moscow was uplifting and showed the increasing empathy of its main character, The Lincoln Highway was ultimately depressing because the four boys didn’t grow in the direction I wanted. I wanted them to turn out well, and I was disappointed time and time again by the choices they made. Towles made me care about these characters, but after all my caring, I didn’t get the ending I wanted.

And as Darlene wrote recently, a bad ending can ruin a book.

I give it 4 stars, but not the 5 stars of A Gentleman in Moscow.

Theresa Hupp

Theresa is the award-winning author of historical fiction about settling the American West. Before she turned to writing, Theresa was an attorney, mediator, and human resources executive.

Follow Theresa on her website, https://TheresaHuppAuthor.com, or on her Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/TheresaHuppAuthor.