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A NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
From debut author Shannon Bowring comes a novel of small town America that Pulitzer-winner Richard Russo calls, ‘measured, wise, and beautiful.’
In most small towns, the private is also public. In the town of Dalton, one local makes an unthinkable decision that leaves the community reeling. In the aftermath, their problems, both small and large, reveal a deeper understanding of the lives of their neighbors, and remind us all that no one is exactly who we think they are.
It’s 1990. In Dalton, Maine, life goes on. Rose goes to work at the diner every day, her bruises hidden from both the customers and her two young boys. At a table she waits, Dr. Richard Haskell looks back on the one choice that’s charted his entire life, before his thoughts wander back to his wife, Trudy, and her best friend.
Trudy and Bev have been friends for longer than they can count, and something more than lovers to each other for some time now—a fact both accepted and ignored by their husbands. Across town, new mother Bridget lives with her high school sweetheart Nate, and is struggling with postpartum after a traumatic birth. And nearer still is teenager Greg, trying to define the complicated feelings he has about himself and his two close friends.
The Road to Dalton offers valuable understandings of what it means to be alive in the world—of pain and joy, conflict and love, and the endurance that comes from living.
Genre: Literary Fiction
From debut author Shannon Bowring comes a novel of small town America that Pulitzer-winner Richard Russo calls, ‘measured, wise, and beautiful.’
In most small towns, the private is also public. In the town of Dalton, one local makes an unthinkable decision that leaves the community reeling. In the aftermath, their problems, both small and large, reveal a deeper understanding of the lives of their neighbors, and remind us all that no one is exactly who we think they are.
It’s 1990. In Dalton, Maine, life goes on. Rose goes to work at the diner every day, her bruises hidden from both the customers and her two young boys. At a table she waits, Dr. Richard Haskell looks back on the one choice that’s charted his entire life, before his thoughts wander back to his wife, Trudy, and her best friend.
Trudy and Bev have been friends for longer than they can count, and something more than lovers to each other for some time now—a fact both accepted and ignored by their husbands. Across town, new mother Bridget lives with her high school sweetheart Nate, and is struggling with postpartum after a traumatic birth. And nearer still is teenager Greg, trying to define the complicated feelings he has about himself and his two close friends.
The Road to Dalton offers valuable understandings of what it means to be alive in the world—of pain and joy, conflict and love, and the endurance that comes from living.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"What a rare gift Bowring has for sly humor and nuance as she paints these unforgettable characters in their rawest pain and sweetest joy. A genius, stealthy love story and a beautiful ode to family and friendship." - Susan Conley
"Over and over, The Road to Dalton locates the miraculous in the mundane, then holds it up, glimmering, for the reader to see. In the end it reminds us that, no matter our circumstances, each of us is imbued with a dignity that cannot be denied or taken from us." - Ron Currie Jr
"In wise, tender, sharp-eyed prose, Shannon Bowring illuminates the interlocking lives of rural Mainers in her stunning debut. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end, for its vivid portrait of time and place and its cast of instantly unforgettable characters, all portrayed in glorious and often heartbreaking humanity. Bowring is an immensely talented writer to watch." - Aaron Hamburger
"A gentle and poignant portrait of small-town life in Maine--and of the spoken and unspoken truths that make a community. The Road to Dalton celebrates the better angels of our nature; a story of hope and family from a fresh new voice." - Cara Hoffman
"The kind of book that too often flies under the literary radar these days: measured, wise, beautiful." - Richard Russo
"Paved with beauty, grace, humility, and love... a triumphant work that reminds us what literature should be." - Morgan Talty
"Over and over, The Road to Dalton locates the miraculous in the mundane, then holds it up, glimmering, for the reader to see. In the end it reminds us that, no matter our circumstances, each of us is imbued with a dignity that cannot be denied or taken from us." - Ron Currie Jr
"In wise, tender, sharp-eyed prose, Shannon Bowring illuminates the interlocking lives of rural Mainers in her stunning debut. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end, for its vivid portrait of time and place and its cast of instantly unforgettable characters, all portrayed in glorious and often heartbreaking humanity. Bowring is an immensely talented writer to watch." - Aaron Hamburger
"A gentle and poignant portrait of small-town life in Maine--and of the spoken and unspoken truths that make a community. The Road to Dalton celebrates the better angels of our nature; a story of hope and family from a fresh new voice." - Cara Hoffman
"The kind of book that too often flies under the literary radar these days: measured, wise, beautiful." - Richard Russo
"Paved with beauty, grace, humility, and love... a triumphant work that reminds us what literature should be." - Morgan Talty
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