Roads of the Heart

June 21, 2004
A road trip turns into a vehicle for family redemption and reconciliation in Tilghman's heartfelt but clunky second novel (after 1996's Mason's Retreat
), which revolves around the efforts of a dying Maryland politician to put his affairs in order. Eric Alwin is the narrator, a disaffected middle-aged New York ad man who spends his weekends in Maryland caring for his father, Frank, a former politician who can barely speak or move after a debilitating stroke. The road to Frank's demise takes a sharp turn when he demands that his son accompany him on a difficult drive to Alabama to present his apologies to his estranged ex-wife. The trip succeeds despite some rough moments, but Frank is determined to get through a similar agenda with other family members. Gathering passengers along the way, father and son finally end up in Columbus, Ohio, meeting yet another (unexpected) relative. The concept of road trip as catharsis and reconciliation works well in the early going, but as the book progresses, the geographical structure makes the novel read like an awkward emotional travelogue, and the writing lapses into mawkish melodrama ("What is forgiveness? Is it choosing to ignore and overlook? Water under the dam? Is it a test, or an embrace?"). Tilghman injects little fresh life into his well-worn conceit. Agent, Maxine Groffsky.

June 1, 2004
It's been a bad decade or so for ex-Maryland senator Frank Alwin: first, he is expelled from office, and his marriage is wrecked by-what else?-a sex scandal; then, he suffers a stroke that renders speech difficult and immobilizes one side of his body. Lately reconciled with his son, Eric, who has marriage and career problems of his own, Frank and his caretaker, Adam, hatch a plan for a trip with Eric to make up for all of Frank's "mottsecks" (mistakes). Thus begins one of the stranger road books in recent memory, with stops in Alabama (ex-wife), New Orleans, Texas (estranged gay daughter), Colorado (Eric's semi-estranged son), and, finally (with this whole entourage, minus the ex-wife, plus a daughter and Eric's wife), Ohio, where they pick up a fourth sibling unknown to the others, from Frank's affair. Tilghman (The Way People Run) captures the nuances of both landscape and character, and if it can be a little slow at times, this journey of reconciliation and atonement is worth it in the end. For medium to large fiction collections.-Robert E. Brown, Minoa Lib., NY

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2004
Tilghman, the author of " In a Father's Place "(1990) and " Mason's Retreat "(1996), returns to the rich themes of father-son relationships and family bonds. Like Nicholas Sparks, Tilghman writes with bittersweet warmth and understanding, loving and forgiving his characters even as he reveals their flaws. New York ad exec Eric Alwin's life is at a crossroads: his 30-year marriage is suffering, and he finds himself chafing against his suburban world of diminishing possibilities. The care of his stroke-debilitated father, Frank, a selfish man who abandoned his family and whose political career ended in scandal, only adds to Eric's troubles. When encroaching mortality causes Frank to attempt to make amends, Eric accompanies his father on a road trip to the South--a journey that prompts self-examination for both men. While the writing sometimes hinges on the sentimental (echoing the Hallmarkesque title), this is a satisfying family drama told in a firm but compassionate voice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)