Where the Road Goes [Hardcover]

Joanne Greenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1998

A masterful novel about the complicated ties that bind families together and the love that has the power to drive them apart.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Antigone ("Tig") is a civil rights activist and grandmother who has joined a year-long, cross-country environmental walk. Tig realized that her ties to home strengthen with distance, and she becomes a confidante for her family, learning more from their correspondence then she would were she at home. For her husband, Marz, and her grandson, Ben, this is a year of introspection and new beginnings, while for her granddaughter, Hope, there is a destructive relationship and a pregnancy that threatens the family. Greenberg (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, 1964) cleverly uses letters from different family members both to explain events and to give different perceptions of reality. Each letter is a gem unto itself, and together they tell a compelling story of hope and despair. Greenberg's characters are rich and complex, her writing deceptively simple, and the story memorable. Highly recommended.?Caroline M. Hallsworth, Cambrian Coll., Sudbury, Ont.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Does anyone really write letters like this anymore? The Warriners do, providing Greenberg with the excuse for an epistolary novel. Tig Warriner, a sixtysomething grandmother, is trying to recapture some of the passion of her early activist days by taking a yearlong walk across America with a group of environmentalists. At home in Colorado are her husband, Marz; her daughters, Justice and Solidarity; and several grandchildren. The letters she sends describe the walk in vivid detail. The letters she receives, especially from Marz, Solidarity, and Justice's 19-year-old daughter, Hope, weave other layers into the story. In particular, Hope marries Larry, a Native American with severe alcohol problems. Though Tig, unlike Hope's parents, is willing to give Larry the benefit of the doubt, she can see the dangerous turn Hope's life is taking, pregnant now and increasingly isolated from her family and friends. At first, all the letter writing threatens to impede the narrative flow; one wishes Greenberg would just get on with it. Gradually, though, the story takes hold. Mary Ellen Quinn

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edition (February 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805051635
• ISBN-13: 978-0805051636
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,702,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Story in Letters, August 22, 2001

By 

BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where the Road Goes (Hardcover)

This novel kept me up until the wee hours. It was wonderful..... Written as a series of diary entries and letters to and from Tig (Antigone) as she walks cross-country taking an environmental survey. Her letters are to and from her husband, Marz; her two daughters, Justice and Solidarity; her grandson, and her granddaughter.

I really enjoy epistolary novels, and was in awe of the way Joanne Greenberg was able to find such an authentic and distinctive *voice* and writing style for each character. Tig's wisdom and her ability to smooth things over/negotiate/arbitrate/give advice was apparent in her letters, although she was not a totally sympathetic character. She has always been an activist and sometimes, as a younger woman, put her causes before her commitment to her daughters and her marriage.

Through these letters, we see family interaction in a unique way. It is not always a good picture, but I think it is honest and explores many issues faced (or not faced) by families today.

Tough going in places, this book is not one I will forget.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joanne Greenberg has done it again!, March 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Where the Road Goes (Hardcover)

Joanne Greenberg is one of the finest fiction writers ever, and this new novel is one of her best! Told entirely through letters, the story fascinates, educates, entertains, saddens, surprises, and enchants its reader. The personality of each character radiates from each letter, gently but persuasively (one daughter begins, "Dear Mother", while the other writes, "Moms....") Differing relationships, are, too, reflected as the main character Tig writes openly, carefully, warmly, defensively, lovingly, and sometimes humorously. The characters are totally real, the plot is compelling, and the style is excellent. At the end of the story, I felt that I had come to know and care deeply about all of the family, and almost as if I, too, had been a part of an exciting, tiring, and frustrating walk across America. A truly delightful book!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Super Discovery, May 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Where the Road Goes (Hardcover)

Though I haven't read any of Greenberg's other books, you can be sure I will look them up after finishing _Where the Road Goes_. This is the most powerful epistolary novel I've read in a long time, and the suspense was breath-taking (don't peek--this is one book that will consistently surprise you if you let it). Greenberg tackles a number of hot-button issues in a thoughtful, heartfelt, and complicated novel that keeps ratcheting up the stakes.