Night Road
by Kristin Hannah

List Price: $27.99
Pages: 432
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780312364427
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

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. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.

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1. Jude Farraday is obviously a tenacious and committed mother. She very clearly tries to do anything and everything she can to keep her children safe. Do you think all of this effort makes her a “good” mother? Or is she over-invested in her children’s lives? Does this kind of micro-managing keep kids safe, or put them in a position where they don’t trust their own judgment?

2. One of the powerful themes in this novel is the delicate balance a mother must find between holding on to her children and letting them go. How does Jude succeed in finding this balance? How does she fail?

3. At one point or another in this book, every character feels extreme growing pains. How do you feel each character “grew up” throughout the story?

4. On page 71, Jude observes that her husband accused her of being a helicopter parent, all noise and movement, hovering too close to her children, but if that were true, he was a satellite, positioned so far up in the sky he needed a telescope to track the goings on his own home. How does this sentence illustrate Jude’s view of motherhood? Is she right? Is Miles unaware of what’s going on in his children’s lives? How does Jude render Miles ineffective and what is the price for that?

5. Jude seems to make all the rules for her children. Why does she ignore Miles’ suggestions and advice? Why does he let her?

6. For years, Jude promised her children than they could “tell her anything, that she would pick them at night up no questions asked.” But when put to the test, she fails. Can you understand why she disciplined her children for drinking? What would you have done?

7. When the senior year partying starts, Jude knows that her kids are going to parties where alcohol is served, and she gets proof that they are drinking. How should she have handled this? Should she and Miles have forbidden them from going to parties? Why didn’t they? What were they afraid of?

8. In knowing about the drinking, were Jude and Miles tacitly allowing it? Is it enough to tell your kids about the dangers of drinking and driving and then trust them to make good decisions?

9. In many parts of the country, parents choose to have a “take the keys” party for their teenage children, with the thought that it will be a safer environment. What do you think of this? Would you do it?

10. Jude seems to find a kind of solace in her grief. It appears that she would rather stop feeling anything than to experience her own pain. Do you think this is believable? Understandable?

11. How did Jude’s handling of grief add to the heartache her family suffered? How do her perceptions of fault play into her coldness?

12. Jude has an extremely strained relationship with her own mother. How does this broken relationship contribute to the story?

13. Lexi comes from a very different world than the Farradays. How does her past contribute to the unfolding of the events? How is her past responsible for the decision she makes to drive that night?

14. When Jude discovers the romance between Zach and Lexi, she is immediately worried for Mia. Why? Were her fears justified?

15. Lexi pays an very high price for her actions that night. Did she do the right thing by admitting guilt? How does her past play into and contribute to the decisions she makes about Grace?

16. The author seems to be making some strong statements about the judicial system, especially with regard to power and money. Do you agree that Lexi paid a higher price for her guilt because she was powerless and broke?

17. Jude says at one point that she is seeking “justice” from the court. Is she? Did she find it?

18. Assign blame for what happened on that tragic night. How much of what happened is Lexi’s fault? Zach’s? Jude’s? Mia’s?

19. Discuss your thoughts about Grace’s “invisible” friend. Who is she? How did she help Grace deal with her emotions?

20. In the end of the novel, Jude learns that in the sea of grief, there were moments of grace, moments of time when one could remember what was left, rather than all that had been lost. What does she mean by this? How does it summarize the lessons learned she and Lexi learned? How will this new understanding change all their lives? Do you believe it? Do you think a person can ever truly overcome a tragedy of this magnitude, and if so, how?

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"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

"Hannah is superb at delving into the characters' psyches and delineating nuances of feeling."

—The Washington Post

"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."

—Newark Star-Ledger

"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."

—Booklist, Reviewed by Kristine Huntley

"Wow! I think Kristin Hannah just wrote her best ever book. Hannah writes wonderful stories that leave us begging for more but Night Road is such a compelling story that you are drawn in on the first page and don't want any interruptions until you have finished the whole book.

This was such a great story. As a mother, I saw myself in Jude and laughed at the extremes that she would go to in being a helicopter mom. Her children were her life. When your family falls apart all around you, it takes a lot of work to get it back on track."

—Bestsellersworld.com, Reviewed by Julie Moderson

EARLY READER REVIEWS

"I just finished Night Road and I am typing through my tears. I absolutely LOVED this book and I think it is Kristin Hannah's best novel yet."

— Stacie from Van Horne, IA

"It is an extraordinarily written, tragic and timely tale...I applaud Ms. Hannah for sharing her experience, even though I am sure it was as heartbreaking for her to relive the events that inspired Night Road as it will be for her fans to read."

— Carla from Hamburg, NY

"You know you got your hands on a great book when you can't stop thinking about the characters long after you've set it down... and then again when you wake up the next morning. Kristin Hannah writes in such a way that you almost feel like you're reading letters from a friend. Having grown up in the Greater Seattle area most of my life, I was so comforted and excited to see such accurate descriptions of favorite places back home. After moving away from Seattle four years ago this story brought me right back to home."

— Kim from Nashville, Tennessee

"The last quarter of the book “the ever after” part was messy, tragic and intense but I loved the pace of the unfolding events, without hurrying me along to the end. I kept thinking “this is the end” and then wonderfully, there'd be more. I'd like to see a movie made of it."

— Gloria from Collingdale, PA

"It was a two-tissue box book. This book will stay with me for a long time."

— Karen from Luling, LA

"I knew this book was very special the minute I started reading it,and it did not disappoint. Haunting, heartbreaking and completely unforgettable, it's a story which will resonate with women of all ages everywhere."

— Trisha Jackson

"I was riveted from the very first page. What Kristin has achieved so brilliantly in this novel is that you really care about each of her characters and whilst you might not always agree with their reactions, she has created them with such depth that you can entirely relate to their experiences and judgements."

— Michelle Kirk

"I hardly slept when I was reading this deeply involving novel. Every different shade and degree of love between freinds, between mother and child, brother and sister, and between lovers is sensitively explored."

— Eli Dryden

"I haven't cried so much reading a book in years! I stayed up reading it until two in the morning because there was no way I could stop part-way through."

— Naomi Berwin

"Kristin Hannah fleshes out characters so skillfully that they become real to the reader, it's a wonderful sort of alchemy that compels you to care deeply about their lives and what will become of them."

— Chloe Healy

"Hannah's poignant descriptions of love and loss stayed with me for a long time."

— Eloise Wood

"I couldn't put this book down from start to finish! A thoroughly compelling story about the power and perils of love."

— Joanna Vallance

"This book was hugely moving... a really clever and well written novel about how a friendship, a first love and a close knitted family become torn apart by a tragic accident... I couldn't put it down!"

— Kate Bullows

"This book came into my inbox as a manuscript late on a Friday afternoon. I started reading it on the bus home, and finally put it down on Saturday evening. It stole most of my weekend, but it was worth it! I absolutely love this book."

— Thalia Suzuma

"It is the first book in a very long time to make me cry."

— Megan Lea