FROM I-80 TO GALWAY BAY

In Christie’s debutnovel, two very different people form an unlikely bond after a tragic event.

Adam Connor is a middle-aged husband and father with graying hair and a lackluster job. When he sees a car wrecked on the side of the highway on Christmas morning, he feels compelled to stop and help the people inside—an intuitive decision that will change the course of his life. When 28-year-old Addie Harris wakes up a week later, she’s told that her husband, who was in the car with her, is dead and that a good Samaritan gave her CPR and saved her life. After she recovers, she decides to try to find the person who helped her in order to get closure and try to move on. Christie’s novel effectively highlights the different coping mechanisms Adam and Addie use after the traumatic event; Adam, who never had a drink in his life before the accident, develops alcoholism, and Addie, who’d been monogamous for many years, seeks solace in casual sex. This novel deals with how the characters move through the stages of grief, from denial to acceptance. But will they ever be able to forgive themselves? Christie’s tale features some generic components of mysteries and thrillers, but its plot offers several surprising twists. Its main theme, however, is how one copes with tragedy and learns how to live again, as shown in Adam and Addie’s separate arcs. They’re not always likable people, and although they have their flaws, Christie manages to make them both sympathetic. The text jumps between the main players’ third-person perspectives and also provides insight into secondary characters along the way. It’s not always satisfying in its characterization, though; one character close to Addie, for instance, starts out as a villain and seems to grow into a better person later on––only to become a villain again. This narrative choice has the effect of inhibiting Addie’s progress as well, as she’s never given the chance to forgive or even understand this person.

An often strong story of the grieving process.