Northward Dreams

De: Craig Lancaster

Narrado por: Kath Crumrine

From acclaimed author Craig Lancaster, a two-time High Plains Book Award winner, comes a story of family violence, dysfunction, and, perhaps, redemption, told across four timelines.

More than a decade into the 21st century, Nate Ray is down and in the final throes before he's out for good. He has burned through jobs and the goodwill of others, including his son, Brandon. When Nate's dad, Ronnie, summons him for a trip from Texas to Montana to bury Ronnie's sister, Nate's self-destruction is put on hold but new and long-simmering issues arise.

Forty years earlier, in Wyoming, Electra Ray plots an escape to an uncertain future, for herself and her five-year-old son. A new friend awaits on the other end, three states away, but first Electra must break cleanly away from the bonds of a neglectful present.

In 2002, recent high school graduate Cherie Bowden is helping her mother settle her grandma's estate in Billings, Montana, and is already deferring her own dreams. She discovers information that makes her question everything she thinks she knows about the people she comes from.

And in early 1950s Montana, Ronnie Ray-sixteen years old, estranged from the father he barely knows, and on the run from an abusive home life-reaches faithfully toward a connection.

In his latest novel, Lancaster, who has been hailed as "one of Montana's most important writers," goes deep into how history shapes and confines us and how hope sometimes stubbornly abides.

©2024 Craig Lancaster (P)2024 Craig Lancaster

Outstanding character development!

At first this seems like 4 separate stories, but little by little the stories start to intertwine and eventually become one. Totally worth the wait. No one can develop characters quite like Craig Lancaster. On the surface, they appear simple. But, as the layers are peeled away, their complexities are revealed. There is pain and healing, lies and truth, disappointment and surprises, disconnection and connection. You’ll get to know each of the characters and quickly get invested in this sad and yet heartwarming story.

Heartbreaking and Hopeful

I love Craig Lancaster's books, I've read several and they were all beautifully written. So I was happy to see that he had a new one out. This is another example of his wonderfully character-driven stories. I was listening to this on audio, so it took a bit of extra time to get the different characters (and timelines) settled in my mind. But once I did I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them, even when they weren't so likeable. And of course Lancaster did an excellent job of getting all the storylines tied together into a cohesive whole. It could easily have become a book full of stereotypes, but the characters and their dialogue all felt "real" throughout. The narration by Kath Crumrine was excellent. It's a book that's both heartbreaking and, ultimately, hopeful, and now I again find myself looking forward to Craig Lancaster's next book.