"Promise me you'll never come back here, Peyton. It's too much--it's just way too much."
Peyton Cabot's fifteenth year will be a painful and transformative one. His father, the heroic but reluctant head of a moneyed Savannah family, has come home from World War II a troubled vet, drowning his demons in bourbon and distancing himself from his son. A tragic accident shows Peyton the depths of his parents' devotion to each other but interrupts his own budding romance with the girl of his dreams.
Struggling to cope with a young life upended, Peyton makes a daring decision: He will retrace a journey his father took at fifteen, riding his bicycle from St. Augustine, Florida, all the way to Key West. Part declaration of independence, part search for self, Peyton's journey will bring him more than he ever could have imagined--namely, the key to his unknowable father, a longed-for reunion, and a calling that will shape the rest of his life.
My review:
My favorite genre' is Christian suspense, so I don't always gravitate towards this kind of book...especially by an author I have never read. The description intrigued me enough to request it to review, and I am glad I did. I'll admit after I got it, I wondered if I'd be able to get into it. No worries there.
I loved the author's style of writing. She put so much emotion and description into the story, I felt myself pulled into the story and didn't want to put it down. The main character is 15 year old Peyton, who is an awesome and very likable character. The author did a tremendous job of describing his long bicycle ride, and brought into the story the emotions he experienced as he made the same journey his dad had made when he was the same age. I loved the characters he met on his journey and the colorful descriptions of them. The scene with the dollar bill about did me in, I'll admit.
Though this is not a suspense novel, it was a book that was extremely difficult to put down. And when I picked it up the second time, I was determined to read it til the end, which I did.
This novel is set in 1947, when things were different. It wouldn't be safe for a 15 year old boy to bicycle what I figured out must be close to 500 miles. Plus, this is fiction.
There is not a lot of Christian content in the book - not a criticism, just an observation. However, it is a clean book that was an absolute delight to read. After I finished it, I went on Amazon and ordered another book by the author. This one was that good. It is the best non-suspense novel I have read in quite a while. I definitely recommend it.
I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions in this review are my own.
About the author:
Valerie Fraser Luesse is the bestselling author of Missing Isaac and Almost Home, as well as an award-winning magazine writer best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she is currently senior travel editor. Specializing in stories about unique pockets of Southern culture, Luesse received the 2009 Writer of the Year award from the Southeast Tourism Society for her editorial section on Hurricane Katrina recovery in Mississippi and Louisiana. A graduate of Auburn University and Baylor University, she lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, Dave.
The Key to Everything is available from Revell, part of the Baker Publishing Group. Thanks to Revell for the review copy.
Check out the author's other books, Almost Home, and Missing Isaac.
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