Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Fridays

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

Beginning:  Emmett

June 12, 1954--The drive from Salina to Morgen was three hours, and for much of it, Emmett hadn't said a word.

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Page 56:  Oh, Omaha, I remember thee well.

It was August of 1944, just six months after my eighth birthday. That summer, my father was part of a traveling revue claiming to raise money for the war effort.

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My thoughts:  I am excited that one of my favorite authors has published a new novel. I absolutely loved both of his previous books, Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow. He is a wonderful storyteller and writes brilliant dialogue.

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From GoodReads:  The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America

In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head west where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future.

Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles’s third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes.

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