THE KEY TO CIRCUS-MOM HIGHWAY

A road trip takes three siblings through their mother’s eye-opening past in this novel.

Chicago bartender Jesse Chasen is not at all like her older sister, Jennifer McMahon. An upper-middle-class wife and mother of two, Jennifer only hears from Jesse when she needs money. But the sisters head to Florida together after getting the news that their birth mother has died. Shockingly, the parents they lost in a car accident five years ago were actually their aunt and uncle. Their mom, Angie, left an inheritance clocking in at $1.2 million. But they’ll only collect it if they take an all-expenses-paid journey across the Southern United States to learn about Angie. This includes picking up a heretofore unknown brother and drag performer, Jack Babineaux, in New Orleans. All three siblings resent their mother for abandoning them as kids. But meeting people from Angie’s life shows them another side of the woman they never knew. As they bicker and periodically run into trouble, the “three J’s” slowly start to understand one another as well as themselves. Although it steps into grim territory, Rice’s tale provides ample comedy. The siblings’ arguments, for example, are often funny and teem with Jesse’s unfiltered dialogue. Jesse isn’t the most likable protagonist, as the million-dollar payout seemingly drives her. Her surprising backstory will nevertheless enlighten readers, which is also the case with Jack as well as Angie, whose unhappy teenage years will garner readers’ sympathy. The tale consistently moves to different states and cities, aptly boosting momentum. Characters, meanwhile, bond in fun, unexpected ways, especially Jesse and Jack and even Jack and Sean, Jesse’s bouncy puppy who’s “part Golden Retriever and part Beanie Baby.” Unfortunately, though the end of Rice’s story ties up everything satisfactorily, readers will find one final reveal both unconvincing and distracting.

This breezy, charming tale incisively shows a family’s bittersweet facets.