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A Novel
by James Wade
In this gripping coming-of-age odyssey, a young man's quest to reunite his family takes him on a life-altering journey through the wilds of 1930s East Texas, where both danger and opportunity grow as thick as the pines.
With his father missing and his mother gravely ill, William Carter is struggling to keep his family's cotton farm afloat in the face of drought and foreclosure. As his options wane, William receives a mysterious letter that claims to know his father's whereabouts.
Together with his best friend Ollie, a mortician in training, William sets out to find his father and bring him home to set things right. But before the boys can complete their quest, they must navigate the labyrinth of the Big Thicket, some of the country's most uncharted, untamed land. Along the way they encounter eccentric backwoods characters of every order, running afoul of murderers, bootleggers, and even the legendary Bonnie and Clyde.
But the danger is doubled when the boys agree to take on a medicine show runaway named Lena, eliciting the ire of the show's leader, the nefarious conman Doctor Downtain. As William, Ollie, and Lena race to uncover the clues and find William's father, Downtain is closing in on them, readying to make good on his violent reputation. With the clock ticking, William must decide where his loyalties lie and how far he's willing to go for the people he loves.
From award-winning author James Wade, Narrow the Road is a riveting exploration of a young man's hard-won coming-of-age and the courageous ways a person can forge a singular path in the face of overwhelming adversity. Alive with grit and tenderness, this is an unforgettable story of the power of friendship to sustain us through loss, betrayal, and devastating consequence.
"Wade delivers a rewarding tale of a boy's quest to find his father...reminiscent of Davis Grubb's classic Southern gothic The Night of the Hunter, with its stark evocation of good versus evil. This odyssey of the West is tough to shake." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Narrow the Road is a saga that could be likened to other master storytellers, but Wade's voice is his own. In this impressive, adventuresome tale with its profound sense of place, vibrant characters, and richly detailed prose, I was captured not only by Wade's compassionate understanding of the human condition but his aptitude for striking a measured balance between pivotal and contemplative scenes. A soulful, thoughtful, and wise story I didn't want to end." —Donna Everhart, author of Women of a Promiscuous Nature
"In prose of spellbinding beauty, James Wade spins a haunting, harrowing odyssey of a boy who becomes a man while searching for his father through the pines and thickets of East Texas. Suspenseful, poetic, and with characters who are not soon forgotten, Narrow the Road asks what one is willing to risk for family and friends and who one becomes when the world is at its most brutal." —Amanda Churchill, author of The Turtle House
This information about Narrow the Road was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
James Wade is the award-winning author of Hollow Out the Dark, Beasts of the Earth, All Things Left Wild, and River, Sing Out. He is the youngest novelist to win two Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America, and a recipient of the MPIBA's prestigious Reading the West Award. His work has appeared in Texas Highways, Writers' Digest, and numerous additional publications. James lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and children.
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