I have to tell you, The Key to Everything, a Novel by Valerie Fraser Luesse is a delight to read. It’s a book you won’t want to put down and the story will stay with you for days. I met Valerie at the Public Library Association Conference back in January and picked up a copy of the book while I was there. I can’t wait to share my review of the book with you! But first here’s the back cover copy:
Peyton Cabot’s fifteenth year will be a painful and transformative one. His father, the heroic but reluctant head of a moneyed Savannah family, has come home from WWII a troubled vet, drowning his demons in bourbon and distancing himself from his son. A tragic accident shows Peyton the depths of his parents’ devotion to each other but interrupts his own budding romance with the girl of his dreams, Lisa Wallace.
Struggling to cope with a young life upended, Peyton makes a daring decision: He will retrace a journey his father took at fifteen, riding his bicycle all the way to Key West, Florida. Part declaration of independence, part search for self, Peyton’s journey will bring him more than he ever could have imagined–namely, the key to his unknowable father, a reunion with Lisa, and a calling that will shape the rest of his life.
Through poignant prose and characters so real you’ll be sure you know them, Valerie Fraser Luesse transports you to the storied Atlantic coast for a unique coming-of-age story you won’t soon forget.
This was a fascinating book and one I’m sure I’ll read again. I don’t do that often. It’s about Peyton Cabot who’s trying to figure out who he is and who his father was. His father had come back from WWI with PTSD, although they didn’t call it that. He self-medicated with alcohol and one day had an accident on his horse that put him into a coma.
All his life, Peyton had heard about his dad’s bike ride from Savanah, Georgia to Key West, Florida and he determines to recreate the ride himself after he’s sent to live with his great-aunt Gert. Part of the reason for the trip was to get to the girl he was in love with who’d been sent to Miami to live for the summer.
Most of the book details his trip and the people he encounters. Luesse does a fantastic job with these people, creating unforgettable people with problems we can all relate to. But she’s at her best when she’s writing from Peyton’s point-of-view. He has a big heart that often gets him in trouble, but in the end, it’s his big heart that saves him. This is a book I would recommend everyone read.
You can preorder The Key to Everything here:
Amazon
B&N
Leave a comment, and I’ll enter you in a May drawing for a book from my library. What’s the last book that has stayed with you for days?
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Comments 36
Where Hope Begins by Catherine West still has a piece of my heart.
Author
I love Catherine West’s books, Mindy! Thanks for stopping by.
The Story of Joseph by Rev. Thomas Lord
Author
I haven’t read that one, Phyllis. It sounds like a book I would like. Thanks for joining us.
Collateral Damage by Lynette Eason had me wondering about things they don’t talk about.
Author
Collateral Damage is next on my TBR table! Thanks for stopping by.
The Brightest of Dreams by Susan Ann Mason. Thank you for sharing this book as it sounds very interesting. Happy Mother’s Day.
Author
Oh, goodness, I’m getting so many books to add to my TBR list, Lucy! Thanks for joining us.
So many!! There have been so many books over the years that have stayed with me for days, but one of the highlights is probably Rachel’s Tears by Beth Nimmo. If you haven’t read it, it’s a biography of one of the victims of the Columbine High School shooting. I read it not long after the Christchurch mosque attacks over here in March last year. I thought about it for days afterwards, wondering what we can do to make shootings stop. There is so much information about both shootings that we just don’t hear about very much, and that information can be crucial to our understanding of the causes of the violence.
Author
I so agree, Monique. We must stop these shootings! Thanks for your comments!
I’ve read many good books recently, but I think “Collateral Damage” by Lynette Eason moved me the most. All of Lynette’s books are great reads, but this one seemed like a departure from her usual; breaking new ground for her. Lot’s to unpack in that book.
Author
Tim, I’m looking forward to reading Collateral Damage! Thanks for stopping by!
Wow – that one sounds like it would be worth reading! I just finished reading several books out of The Road to Liberation collection. The Prisoner’s Wife by Maggie Brookes still haunts me at times …I can’t believe what the POW’s had to go through :(.
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I’ve heard a lot about The Road to Liberation collection, Betti. Another one I need to add!
When I Close My Eyes by Elizabeth Musser. It is such a beautiful story about accepting grace forgiveness!
Author
I haven’t read that one, either, Elizabeth. It sounds like one I’d like. Thanks for dropping by.
The Joy of Falling is a book that has stayed with me. It dealt with grief and its many facets. It is a remarkable story of God’s love for you and his comfort for the brokenhearted.
Author
Hi Sonnetta! So many books I’ve missed! Thanks for adding to my TBR list and for stopping by!
That’s hard to say but I read the Montana Marshalls series by Susan May Warren all at once so it stuck with me a while. Her books are so action packed and intense.
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Yes, Susan May Warren’s books will stick with you, Gloria! Thanks for commenting!
I don’t read as much non-fiction now as I did for many years, so those often stick with me longer than the fiction I read. But I really enjoyed Standoff: it made me want to visit Natchez and drive the Natchez Trace. The one you reviewed above sounds like one that would stay with me a long time. Peyton sounds like someone to whom I could relate. My dad served in WWII and suffered tremendously from “shell-shock” as it was called back then. My parents had met before the war but got married the night he arrived home. I was born ten months later. My story is different from Peyton’s in that regard and also in the way his father dealt with his problems. My dad promised God he would never smoke or drink if God would get him home safely. He stuck to it, but life was difficult for him. He ultimately underwent electro-shock treatments for a number of years to try to gain some degree of normalcy. He loved his sons and daughter but had a difficult time functioning as a normal father.
Author
Edward, I’m afraid your story is more common than we like to think. PTSD or being “shell-shocked” wasn’t talked about much back then and not as accepted as a serious problem. So many of the men returning from WWII, and Korea, and Vietnam didn’t get the help they needed. I think you would really like this book.
Things Left Unsaid by Courtney Walsh was the last book I read that stayed with me for days. You made this book sound really interesting though, and I preordered it!
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I’m so glad you preordered it, Linda! I truly believe you will enjoy it!
I think the last one I read that has stayed with me is a YA book by Hannah Currie titled Heart of a Royal. The way she tied the faith element of the book in was so wonderful, and really stayed with me.
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Another one for me to put on my TBR list, Megan! I love it when the faith element is woven into the story!
The first that comes to mind is Veiled in Smoke by Jocelyn Green! It had so much history and some may have applied to my ancestors.
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That sounds like an interesting book, Joan. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for stopping by.
Just finished Standoff! Loved it!
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I’m so glad! You’ve made my day, Paula!! Thanks!!
The Reunion by Dan Walsh made me really question the way I see veterans. To look beneath the surface.
Author
I’ve been meaning to read that one, Joni! Always good to ‘see’ you here!
Thank you, Pat! Coming from an author I admire so much, your review meant the world to me, as did your wise advice when we visited in Nashville. I hope we get to visit again soon!
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Valerie, I loved your book and didn’t want to put it down once I started it. I just downloaded Missing Isaac and am looking forward to reading it.
I have a LOT of catching up to do with your great books! Can’t wait.
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Thanks! Stay safe!