As much as this sounds like a 1950's road trip adventure, it is not - although at moments it does have a bit of a Three Musketeers feel. It is all about the delightful characters and a little about the plight of doing the right thing for the wrong reasons and vice versa. Emmett Watson, 18 years old, has been released from a juvenile work camp where he was sent for accidentally killing another young man in a fight. His release has followed the death of his father and the loss of their Kansas farm. Mom disappeared long ago so Emmett is now the sole caretaker of his very precocious brother Billy whose guiding hope for the future is a book - Professor Abernathy's Compendium of Heroes, Adventures, and Other Intrepid Travelers - stories that stretch as far back as Ulysses. The plan - to head to California on the Lincoln Highway in the only thing they own - a baby blue Studebaker. Unfortunately two of Emmett's bunk mates turned escapees arrive to derail that plan. Duchess, son of a former vaudevillian, operates under a questionable moral code but a clear sense of balance between right and wrong. Woolly is a gentle, confused soul who has drifted far from his wealthy Northeastern roots. They get in trouble. They get saved. They head east instead of west. They make mistakes. They meet heroes. And there are many more interesting characters to meet along the way including Professor Abernathy himself. Towles has an amazing ability to draw you into his world. This is a novel worthy to follow the wonderful Gentleman in Moscow.
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