They arent home, so they enter though the (four-car) garage. When he returned, Woolly was dead. The panhandler tells Emmett that the Sunset East is the best train to board discreetly at night. It caused Jimmy to fall and hit his head on a cinder block, resulting in his death. Before Tom leaves, he asks Emmett to hand over the keys and registration to a car outside, but Emmett resists, says that the car is his. "The Lincoln Highway" by Amor Towles is a historical fiction novel that was voted by Amazon's book editors as the best book of 2021. Billy says they werent strangers since theyd spoken for a while. He leaves with a sense of moral satisfaction. The Lincoln Highway. Your email address will not be published. Billy insists they can find her by going there. On that day, the youngest child over 16 would be tasked with reciting the Declaration of Independence, followed by the Gettysburg Address being recited by the youngest child over 10. The Bibliofile's review of The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. This was a good review. At nearly 600 pages, "The Lincoln Highway" is remarkably brisk, remarkably buoyant. However, in that moment, Billy says to himself I am truly forsaken (referencing what Ulysses has told him) and then proceeds to kick Pastor John in his injured knee and run off. Duchess's goes looking for his father (Harry), who is trying to evade him after learning that Duchess escaped from juvie. We apparently see a flash before Duchess dies that shows the brothers in California, Woolly alive, Sally with a child and Sister Sarah. Amor Towles is the author of New York Times bestsellers RULES OF CIVILITY and A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW. This was very helpful! He demands that Woolly go work for one of his stockbroker friends after he finishes his sentence. When the cowboy dismisses him, Duchess grabs a 2-by-4 from a trash can nearby and hits him with it, saying consider your debt repaid in full. Kaitlin also told them that shed called Sarahs place and Woolly had answered, but hung up on her. Then, six months ago like her father had met a woman, Alice Thompson, and hed broken his routine. She's upset to learn from Duchess that Emmett plans on leaving. Upstairs, Woolly shows Billy his own collection of stuff. He knows that Duchess cant swim and he did just enough to provide some safety but it was up to Duchess to ensure that he could get back to shore. When Duchess inquires about his fathers whereabouts, the attendant Bernie says that the person to ask is Fitzy FitzWilliams. The Lincoln Highway. I did not appreciate the fate of Wooley. Billy is determined to follow the Lincoln Highway west to San Francisco, where he hopes to find his mother, who abandoned her family when he was a baby and Emmett was 8. Woolly should have control over the money now that hes 18, but his brother in law had him declared temperamentally unfit in order to retain authority over it. But lets talk over several key events. Again, one of the ideas Towles explores is how evil can be offset by decency and kindness on any rung of the socio-economic ladder. However, based on Woollys schooling background and family name, Ma Belle is able to deduce that Woolly must be from a very well-to-do family from the Upper East Side. The book features a number of great travelers and adventurers, both real and fictional. Duchess manages to convince the officer that Woolly is mentally deficient, so the officer lets him go with a warning to keep a closer eye on Woolly in the future. The Lincoln Highway: A Novel Audible Audiobook - Unabridged Amor Towles (Author), Edoardo Ballerini (Narrator), & 3 more 73,282 ratings Editors' pick Best Literature & Fiction See all formats and editions Kindle $14.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER More than ONE MILLION copies sold He also adds, however, that the abridged version of the legend of Ulysses in the book left out the part where the Great Ulysses was told that he was destined to wander the seas until he had appeased the gods through an act of tribute. He greets Billy as he enters the boxcar. Additionally, one of the other bunkmates in Bunkhouse Four (where they all lived) was Tommy Ladue, an Oklahoman who is racist. The latter is 3.390 miles long, and it's the U.S.'s very first. Meanwhile, Emmett and Billy head for San Francisco. At that moment, he had felt abandoned by God and by fate. His father been part of a revue that was raising money for the war effort. He notices his dictionary, and it reminds him of the thesaurus it had come with. When Sally asks him to check in, he initially balks, but she points out the he had no problem calling her when he wanted to demand her assistance. Two years later his father came to reclaim him, but Sister Agnes knows how damaging it mustve been for him to be abandoned out of convenience. Today, hed be looking around the house for other tools. Book Club Questions for The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, Review: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Theyve both turned 18 recently, which means that if caught they could end up at Topeka (prison) instead of Salina (juvenile detention). When Sally implies that she wants to leave, too, Mr. Randsom comments angrily about how hes given Sally too much lee-way and that shes become too willful. Your email address will not be published. Book Ending Promises A Major Twist. . When they accidentally run out of gas, Duchess realizes he has very little money for gas. Ulysses gets into the grave and opened the casket. This is why his interactions with his sister seemed to have a farewell component to it. His favorite part of the store is the huge dollhouse. At this point it becomes clear that Duchesss relationship with his father is is even worse that we previously realized, since his father felt the need to disappear when he learned Duchess was not at Salina. Duchess thinks about the teachings of Sister Agnes, a nun at St. Nicholass Home for Boys where his father had dropped him off. He first heads up to the Tristar Talent Agency. Billy says that hed want a house in San Francisco. They explain that they stowed away in Warden Williams's trunk and have a proposition for Emmett. Before heading to Sarah's place, the group passes by the location described in Billy's big red book as the offices of Professor Abacus Abernathe. Box's The Highway novel is filled with suspense. The dinner is delightful, and they ask Duchess to do a magic trick. If Emmett didnt stop Duchess, Emmett believes that Duchess would again get in the way of their plans. Afterwards, they open three bottles of Denniss wine to try the same trick suddenly, Dennis and Sarah walk in. Maintaining a stable interior temperature in the Lincoln . Duchess is certain that Emmett is saying no only because he made the proposition in front of Billy. Emmett goes into the city to track down Duchess, who knows is looking for his father. This is how I perceive the author's intent for all his characters. I do love everything stopping still like in Marcellines stage act - thats usual Amor Towles elegance. Fitzy explains that Delphine had always doted on Duchess and bought him fancy clothes, which is why Harry started jokingly referring to his son as Duchess. Seriously! Potentially, Emmett laid the groundwork for Duchess to have to choose between the money or survival. There is a constant push and pull of wanting freedom and the things we owe to others. Why are the summaries counted down from 10? She tells him that she has spoke to Warden Williams and that hes willing to give him minimal repercussions for running away if he returns immediately. Emmett tries to pay for the food instead with some cash that Mr. Parker had tipped him (on the train), but pulls out the bill to find that its a 50-dollar bill and Ulysses sternly tells him to put it away. Wooleys voice is muffled, though there is a sweetness to him that comes through. When Sally called Kaitlin, Kaitlin ended up calling Sarahs place and was unhappy when it sounded like Woolly might be there. He had then grabbed the shovel to wait for the right moment to knock Pastor John out. If this book were set today, their constant detours and U-turns would send GPS into paroxysms of navigational recalculations. Instead, Duchess marches up to the cowboy and confronts him. When Warden Williams later had them all take an accounting class about balancing your accounts, Duchess started to understand what Sister Agnes had been teaching them. Emmett soon shows up at Townhouses place. It tells the story of two brothers with a plan to travel down the Lincoln Highway from Nebraska to San Francisco, though their plans quickly get derailed from the onset. Townhouse then directs Emmett to where Duchess will be that night, which turns out to be a raunchy circus show attached to a brothel. In 1925, the Lincoln Highway was finally completed. In Emmetts fathers room, he finds Billy reading a big red book called Professor Abacus Abernathes Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers, and Other Intrepid Travelers. Hed then spotted the encampment due to the campfire, and saw that Billy and Ulysses were there. However, Duchess drugs Emmett, leaves him at the brothel and ducks out. Each of the main characters are at a crossroads of sorts and in a way, the Lincoln Highway serves as a getaway from their current, somewhat bleak situation. . He understands why Sally is upset, knowing that there was once the possibility of something between them. Later, Emmett finds Sally, who is upset with him. After Emmett had failed to check in with her on Friday, Sally had reached out to Father Coleman at Episcopalian church the in New York, knowing that Woollys family is Episcopalian. He thinks about how his boarding schools had been like that, too. 2020 LINCOLN CORSAIR RESERVE Vehicle Info. Meanwhile, Woolly is a troubled rich kid. The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter. Sam would go with his father to travel to see various shipwrecks, and he felt his world expand and broaden. He knows that population growth is crucial to his plan of ensuring the profits of possible rental properties. A year ago, Emmett killed another young man, Jimmy Snyder. She has learned that he has purchased the Watson farm and all their land from the bank during the foreclosure. Emmett removes the chairs barricading the doors and tells the nuns what happened. Sally muses that men seem to think that meals just make themselves. In present day, Emmett goes to the public library. The last postcard she sent also talks about how the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Franciscos Lincoln Park has a huge firework show on July 4th each year. Emmett confronts Duchess and tries to get him to leave. Duchess had instead flagged a car to hitch a ride back, but the driver was a cop who had reported him to the warden. The two-paragraph version: Emmett (18) has just gotten out of juvie and is now planning to drive down the Lincoln Highway to move to San Francisco with his younger brother Billy (8). Woolly hated the thesaurus and the unnecessary amount of alternative words it offered. The Lincoln Highway is a journey in multiple layers the escapades of a road trip, coming of age passages and a storytelling odyssey. Hes especially fascinated by a story about them doing a civil defense test that resulted in them shutting down all activity in 54 cities across America for ten minutes. In 1929, Marceline been offered a lucrative contract in to perform in New York for six months, but while he was on the ship there, the stock market had plunged, the U.S. had fallen into a depression and his contract was cancelled.