Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Leaving Unknown

Leaving Unknown
Kerry Reichs

Leaving Unknown

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Sweet Lips, Tennessee . . . Toad Suck, Arkansas . . . Okay, Oklahoma . . . Truth or Consequences, New Mexico . . . Maeve Connelly's epic road trip is taking her through every colorfully named tiny town in America on her way to the far less imaginatively named Los Angeles, California. With her foulmouthed cockatiel, Oliver, her only companion, Maeve's heading way off the beaten track with little money and a load of painful baggage she wants to leave behind. But when her beloved rattletrap, "Elsie," breaks down outside Unknown, Arizona, she finds herself taking a much longer rest stop than she anticipated.

The only mechanic in the vicinity is on an indefinite walkabout, so Maeve's in for the long haul—and she'll need to find two jobs to pay for Elsie's eventual repair. But she's starting to feel strangely at home among the quirky denizens of Unknown—especially around her new bookstore owner boss—so Maeve is seriously considering saying good-bye to Hollywood for good . . . if she can keep her past troubles from coming to light.

From Kerry Reichs, author of The Best Day of Someone Else's Life, comes a poignant and very funny new novel about finding yourself after finding yourself in the middle of nowhere.


Review: Such a quirky and delightful book!  I admit that at first, I struggled to enjoy the book because of Maeve's flightiness and unmotivation, but as the story unfolded, I was happily surprised to discover that Maeve had a compelling reason for her behavior.  And as she traveled around the country dealing with car troubles, lovable pets, job difficulties, entertaining friends and romantic tangles, I was delighted to see her grow into a strong and endearing woman.

This book reminded me of Driving Sideways and Beginner's Luck, both coming of age stories with unconventional and lovable characters.

Rating: 4.5 stars

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