The Lincoln Highway: In the summer of 1954, a pivotal chapter in the life of eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson unfolds as he embarks on a journey that will define his future. Having completed a year-long sentence for involuntary manslaughter at a remote work farm, Emmett finds himself at a crossroads. Stranded in Nebraska with his family’s farm repossessed by the bank and both his parents absent from his life – his mother long vanished and his father recently departed – Emmett’s resolve is to gather his eight-year-old brother and venture westward. Envisioning a fresh start and the chance to forge a new beginning, the weight of his past actions and the daunting challenges ahead loom large.
However, as fate would have it, the trajectory of Emmett’s plans takes an unexpected twist. In a serendipitous turn of events, he stumbles upon a revelation that alters the course of his journey. Unveiling an unforeseen layer of complexity, two fellow comrades from the work farm materialize as secret passengers concealed within the confines of the warden’s car trunk. Collaboratively, they have formulated an alternative vision for Emmett’s destiny, one that unravels against the backdrop of a mere ten days. With each unfolding day, Towles’s narrative masterwork introduces a mosaic of perspectives, each offering a unique vantage point into the unfolding drama. Drawing readers into a tapestry of intricately woven literary artistry, Towles’s third novel artfully melds his signature multi-dimensional storytelling with an array of unexplored and vividly envisioned landscapes, characters, and thematic explorations. Admirers of his multi-layered narrative approach will find themselves satiated while being treated to a panorama of novel environments, nuanced personas, and thought-provoking motifs that enrich the tapestry of this remarkable literary creation.
About The Author
Born and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from Stanford University. Having worked as an investment professional in Manhattan for over twenty years, he now devotes himself fulltime to writing. His first novel, Rules of Civility, published in 2011, was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback and was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the best books of 2011. The book was optioned by Lionsgate to be made into a feature film and its French translation received the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald. His second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller and was ranked as one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the St. Louis Dispatch, and NPR. Both novels have been translated into over fifteen languages.
Mr. Towles, who lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children, is an ardent fan of early 20th century painting, 1950’s jazz, 1970’s cop shows, rock & roll on vinyl, obsolete accessories, manifestoes, breakfast pastries, pasta, liquor, snow-days, Tuscany, Provence, Disneyland, Hollywood, the cast of Casablanca, 007, Captain Kirk, Bob Dylan (early, mid, and late phases), the wee hours, card games, cafés, and the cookies made by both of his grandmothers.
