Back Roads

November 29, 1999
Nineteen-year-old Harley is left to rear his three younger sisters after their mother is imprisoned for murdering their abusive father in this searing, hardscrabble Party of Five set in Pennsylvania mining country. Doubly resentful because his best friend is off at college, Harley spends his days slogging as a Shop Rite bagger and appliance-shop delivery person, coming home to cold cereal dinners prepared by six-year-old Jody. Harley is bitter about having to take over for his mother--"she still had us kids but we didn't have her"--and he can't shake the feeling that she prefers prison to their home life; a mystery lingers around his father's death. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Amber is sleeping her way through the town's teenage boys and flaunting her body in front of Harley; middle sister Misty, once her father's favorite and his hunting companion, practices shooting. Desperate for relief, Harley finds solace in rough but exhilarating encounters with married Callie Mercer, little Jody's best friend's mother, losing his virginity to her on a muddy creek bank and reveling in her sophisticated, sensitive words. But memories are stirring in his subconscious, and erotic dreams of the Virgin Mary metamorphose into nightmarish sexual visions. In his sessions with a court-appointed therapist, Harley edges closer to understanding his family's twisted dynamic, but it is only when the horrors of the present begin to catch up with those of the past that a series of shattering truths are revealed. By then it is too late for Harley to save everyone he loves, but in sacrificing himself, however hopelessly, he introduces a note of grace. O'Dell's scorching tale touches on all the tropes of dysfunctional families, but her characters fight free of stereotypes, taking on an angry, authentic glow.

When Oprah introduced BACK ROADS as a Book Club Selection, she noted that it is, among other things, "raw." Indeed it is. Harley Altmayer, 19, is taking care of his three younger sisters after his mother is imprisoned for murdering their abusive father. The abusive history of the family and the overwhelming emotions of love, hate, joy and despair make this a searing story that is often difficult to take but just as hard to forget. Dylan Baker's narration is emotionally fluent; a drollness born of despair is etched into Harley's thoughts and voice. Baker moves easily into the voices of the women in Harley's life--his lover, his sister--and their fears and hopes and love for Harley. He can capture, in a single sentence, both the hopelessness Harley feels when viewing his life and his joy at finding someone who he believes really loves him. Baker conveys the essence of this devastating novel with each word. M.A.M. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine