Night Road

Product Description For a mother, life comes down to a series of choices. To hold on… To let go.. To forget… To forgive… Which road will you take? Night Road For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers.xa0 When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude.xa0 Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend.xa0 Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way.xa0 It has always been easy-- until senior year of high school.xa0 Suddenly she is at a loss.xa0 Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them. On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives.xa0 In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything.xa0 In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive. Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, NIGHT ROAD raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness.xa0 It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope.xa0 This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love. Amazon Exclusive: A Conversation Between Kristin Hannah and Emily Giffin Emily Giffin (left) is the author of five New York Times bestselling novels, including Something Borrowed , which has been adapted as a major motion picture that will be in theaters in summer 2011. A graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law, she lives in Atlanta with her family. Kristin Hannah (right) is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels, including Winter Garden . She is a former lawyer turned writer and the mother of one son. She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. Kristin Hannah: Well, first, I have to say, Emily, that I am just the tiniest bit irritated with you. When I got the call to do this interview, I was thrilled, to say the least. It came at a really busy time for me--right after the holidays and we all know how crazy that is--and my work in progress was giving me fits. Then I picked up Heart of the Matter , and lost myself. No more writing, no more cooking, no getting my hair done or reading my email. Once I started the story I literally couldn't put it down. Brava, girlfriend, I say. Your characters are so real and compelling, and they always say exactly the right thing. With so much honest emotion, I just have to ask how much of your work comes from your own life? Emily Giffin: It never fails to thrill me when someone responds to one of my novels--especially when it's another writer. Writers understand the alchemy involved in making up something from nothing. And I just finished your book, Night Road , and I found it so emotional, so moving, and so terrifying--especially since I have three young children who will someday be teenagers. In terms of how much does my work come from my own life, I would say that I'm absolutely inspired by people, places, conversations, relationships, and issues that I observe, and that the "what if" part of my novel is very much inspired by these things in my life. But the details of my plots and the specifics of my characters come from my own head. How about you, Kristin? I'll ask you the million-dollar question that every author gets asked: where do you get your ideas? Kristin: Ah, the idea question. I don't want to sound coy, but the truth is, I don't quite know. It's the most magical part of the process for me. I'm a pretty analytical gal, and I approach writing in the same just-the-facts-ma'am way I approach most things. I need to find an issue that engages me on an intellectual level, and then I need to marry that curiosity with a kind of passion. I need to feel genuinely passionate about each story before I ever write a word, and I have to actually have something to say. It takes me at least a year to research and write a novel, and so I have to really adore each part of it--the characters, setting, story. Most of all, it has to make me feel something genuine. That's really the most important component. Usually it begins with a single "what if" question--what if you discovered your mother had a whole secret life about which you knew nothing ( Winter Garden ) or what if your husband were accused of a crime you believed he hadn't committed ( True Colors )--and then I write and re-write until the characters seem as real to me as old friends. Kristin: I'm amazed by how much we have in common. We're both moms, both lawyers, both lived in London for a time. You're like a younger, cooler version of me. How did you make the transition from lawyer to writer, and do you think you'll ever practice law again? Emily: I would hardly say I'm cooler than you, Kristin! I hear you live in Hawaii part time! What is cooler than that? I made the transition from lawyer to writer because I was so miserable being a lawyer that I needed some escape from the day-to-day of it. And inventing stories was that escape. I can say, without hesitation, that I will never practice law again. Would you? What kind of law did you practice, and for how long? What did you find appealing (or discouraging) about law? Did you find that it gave you fodder for any of your novels? Kristin: Honestly, I have met very few lawyers who don't say that what they really want to do is write. Like you, I can say with certainty that I will never practice law again. Not that anyone would want me to. But I still keep my Bar membership up...just in case this whole writing thing doesn't work out. And yes, in the past few years, I have finally begun to put some of that law school education to work for me. I find that I'm really enjoying adding legal issues to my work. Of course, I have to talk to real lawyers to make sure I'm getting it right... Read more of the conversation between Emily Giffin and Kristin Hannah From Publishers Weekly Hannah follows up Winter Garden with a strained story of friendship, social pressures, love, and forgiveness. After a string of foster homes and the death of her heroin-addict mother, Lexi Baill is taken in by a newly discovered great-aunt who lives a spartan life near Seattle. Despite financial problems, the two are glad to have found each other, and though Lexi resolves to stay safely on the periphery at her new high school, she soon meets Mia, unhappy and awkward despite a solid family life, a loving twin brother, Zach, and a closetful of clothes. The friendship flourishes, and Mia's mother, Jude, relieved and pleased for her daughter, draws Lexi into the family circle. But trouble begins in senior year with a slowly growing attraction between Zach and Lexi, who take great pains to make Mia comfortable with the change in the dynamics. This familiar story takes an unfortunate turn deep into after-school-special territory when Lexi, Mia, and Zach collectively make a bad decision that results in a tragedy with extreme repercussions. Even readers who like their melodrama thick will have problems as Hannah pushes credibility to the breaking point, and more than once. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. From Booklist Hannah�s gripping new novel centers around a tragedy that rocks a family to its core. When her twins start high school, overprotective Jude worries that her daughter Mia, who has always lived in the shadow of her popular brother Zach, will be lost in the shuffle. When Mia meets Lexi, an introverted girl who has been scarred by the abandonment of her feckless mother and a life in foster care, Jude is relieved to see that Mia has found a kindred spirit. When Lexi and Zach fall in love during their senior year, they are happy that sensitive Mia accepts their relationship. Though college plans threaten to separate them, the three are on top of the world as they head off to their graduation party�until a catastrophic decision that night changes everything. Hannah effectively builds tension as the novel moves towards the pivotal tragedy and maintains suspense afterward not only with several surprising twists but, more subtly, with the way she limns the grief and eventual healing of her appealing characters. A breakout for popular novelist Hannah. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With a 400,000-copy first print run and ramped-up promotion and cross-country tour, this will be another best-seller for Hannah. --Kristine Huntley " Night Road is one special book that can transform the lives of readers by influencing how they think about certain important life issues. The reader becomes a first-hand witness to the pitfalls of parenthood, mortality, heartbreak, guilt, life choices, grief, forgiveness, and much more. In short, the entire range of human emotions are explored in this...hopeful book about the triumphant power of the human spirit in the process of forgiveness."— New York Journal of Books "…movingly written and plotted with the heartless skill of a Greek tragedy, you’ll keep turning the pages until the last racking sob."— The Daily Mail "A rich, multilayered reading experience, and an easy recommendation for book clubs."— Library Journal (starred review)"Hannah masterfully details the unraveling of a family."— People magazine"Kristin Hannah is back in top form with Night Road…it will hook Hannah fans from start to suspenseful finish"— The Seattle Times "Kristin Hannah lets loose here, daring her readers to keep the tears at bay."— Newarkxa0 Star-Ledger "Hannah effectively builds tension as the novel moves towards the pivotal tragedy and maintains suspense afterward not only with several surprising twists but, more subtly, with the way she limns the grief and eventual healing of her appealing characters."— Booklist, Reviewed by Kristine Huntley Kristin Hannah is the New York Times bestselling author of novels including Firefly Lane , True Colors and Winter Garden . She was born in Southern California and moved to Western Washington when she was eight. A former lawyer, Hannah started writing when she was pregnant and on bed rest for five months. Writing soon became an obsession, and she has been at it ever since. She is the mother of one son and lives with her husband in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Night Road Behind the Novel How little I knew about the world, and about parenting. When my son started school, I relaxed a tiny bit. He had made it past the dangerous years--or so I thought. He had learned how to cross the street, to wear a helmet, to ask for help, to stay away from strangers. But how do you keep them safe when the danger comes from within? Senior year of high school. The Big Year.I wanted so much for him in that year--to love his classes, do well in his endeavors, ace the SAT, go to the prom, sign his yearbook, pick his college. All of it. I remembered how much fun I had senior year, and I wanted the same for him.I didn't realize how much the world had changed ... and how much it had stayed the same.It's been five years now since my son graduated from high school, and those few years have given me a little space. I've gone through the empty nest and come out on the other side. Now, finally, I can look back on that incredibly difficult year and see it for what it was. See me for who I was, and see the mistakes I made along the way. And I made more than a few, believe me.In retrospect, I think we underestimate the immense pressure our kids are operating under in that last year of high school. We don't realize how much they want to make us proud ... and how much they fear failing. They're ready to fly away from the nest, but they don't really want to test their wings. Everything is dangerous--tests can be suddenly failed, teams can lose, application deadlines can be missed, hearts can be broken.And then comes spring. The party season.Believe me, whatever you remember abouthigh school parties hasn't changed. Teen parties still spring up like mushrooms in dark, quiet places, far from adult eyes. Weekend after weekend. "How could I have been a better mother?" For me, this became the most challenging time of all. As I said before, I am a person who researches things. I pride myself on my ability to gather knowledge. I don't want to operate in a don't ask/don't tell world. I believe in honesty and transparency. Unfortunately, there's a price to all that honesty. Sometimes your kids tell you what you don't want to hear.In looking back, I have tried to come up with The Answer. The right way to parent in that stressful, dangerous year. What should I have said about all the pressures he was under? How could I have been a better mother? How should I have dealt with the threat of teen drinking and driving? What's the right answer when the partying starts?These are the questions that started me out on Night Road . The novel is my exploration of the year that is so pivotal, both to parents and kids.It was definitely stressful. It was also exciting, exhilarating, and magical. Here's what I didn't know then: Everything I said to my son, he heard. I didn't need to say it twice or underscore it or remind him. He heard it all and took what he needed. In the end, we both grew up and learned that trickiest of skills: how to let go and hold on at the same time. Read more