Mother Road Book

I discovered Dorothy Garlock about 27 years ago in a small used book store when my oldest son was a baby, I quickly devoured anything I could find of hers and she continues today to be one of my favorite authors and an author I frequently suggest to my patron's at my job. I love how she tells a story and how she visits all different era's in our time from the 1800's pioneer days to dustbowl and depression days and WWII. I originally read this several years back but chose it for our book club so I wanted to refresh and read it again I loved it again for the second time.

This story is the first of a trilogy set on Route 66 during the 1930's it of course touched a place in my heart because it is set in western Oklahoma where I was raised specifically Sayre, Ok. I grew up in Thomas which is about an hour away from there so I recognized all the places they talked about in the book. The story is set on Route 66 not far from Sayre at Andy's gas station and garage Andy lives there with his sister-in-law Leona Dawson and two daughters having lost his wife two years earlier. Leona has pretty much given up her life to help Andy raise his two daughters. Leona's brother Virgil being a religious fanatic has made it his life's ambition to dirty her name in town and threaten to take the two young girls away because they are living in a den of sin according to him. One day a customer stops for gas and in a turn of events he stays at the garage to help Andy and sparks fly between him and Leona only most of the times the sparks flying are not the good sparks. This story has revenge, love, hate, loss, joy, humor and even a murder. It is very well written and takes you back to the depression days of the 1930's when people were taking their families and what little they had and setting out on Route 66 to California for what they thought was the promised land.

This is a story about hard working folks during an even harder period of time to be living in. It's about an unconventional family, love and small town living. Mrs. Garlock knows how to immerse you in her stories and feel the love, anger and sadness her characters are going through and learning a little something about our history at the same time. I highly suggest this book and this trilogy and of course anything else by Dorothy Garlock!!
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