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Book Review: Night Road full of complex turns

Love, loss, forgiveness and acceptance are frequent themes in Kristin Hannah’s books. Night Road is no exception. Twins Mia and Zach live a very comfortable life with their parents Miles and Jude.
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Love, loss, forgiveness and acceptance are frequent themes in Kristin Hannah’s books. Night Road is no exception.  Twins Mia and Zach live a very comfortable life with their parents Miles and Jude. Jude is a stay-at-home mom whose whole life revolves around the two teens. She does everything she can to help them succeed and pushes them towards their upcoming college careers. The inseparable siblings are happy and bright, but while Zach is uber confident and very popular at school, Mia is painfully shy and reserved.

Foster child Lexi Baill is new to the close-knit community, having recently moved in with her aunt Eva. When she begins attending the same high school as Zach and Mia, the 3 become constant companions. After Mia brings Lexi home, Jude couldn’t be happier that Mia has a steadfast friend in her life. Jude accepts Lexi unconditionally and Lexi becomes one of the family.

As the teens navigate their final year of high school, Jude is right there making sure they are safe and on track for college. Things occasionally get a bit tense, as they might with a house full of teenagers and an at times overprotective mother.

One night, there is an accident and these idyllic lives are torn apart as justice is demanded and blame is assigned. With everything coming tumbling down around her, Lexi forsakes all that she holds dear – her family, her first love, and her best friend.

Time passes and Lexi returns to the community wanting to reconcile the past with her future - forcing Jude to face the truth and decide whether she will stay as she is or learn to forgive and move forward.

Hannah’s complex writing evokes many emotions, taking the reader inside her characters to experience their heartbreak, raising questions we might be afraid to answer and speaking to all of us.

Helen Varga is a library technician at the Steveston Branch of the Richmond Public Library. On her bookshelf is the upcoming Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen thriller, You Are Not Alone.