The Shortest Way Home

A Novel

By: Miriam Parker

Narrated by: Abby Craden

Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Named a Best Book of 2018 by Real Simple and Redbook.

"Delightful...effervescent, heady and intoxicating." (Elin Hilderbrand)

How far would you got to find the place you belong?

Hannah is finally about to have everything she ever wanted. With a high-paying job, a Manhattan apartment, and a boyfriend about to propose, all she and Ethan have to do is make it through the last couple of weeks of grad school.

But when, on a romantic weekend trip to Sonoma, Hannah is spontaneously offered a marketing job at a family-run winery and doesn't immediately refuse, the couple's meticulously planned forever threatens to come crashing down. And then Hannah impulsively does the unthinkable - she takes a leap of faith.

Abandoning your dream job and life shouldn't feel this good. But this new reality certainly seems like a dream come true - a picturesque cottage overlooking a vineyard; new friends with their own inspiring plans; and William, the handsome son of the winery owners who captures Hannah's heart only to leave for the very city she let go.

Soon, the mission to rescue the failing winery becomes a mission to rescue Hannah from the life she thought she wanted. Crackling with humor and heart, The Shortest Way Home is the journey of one woman shedding expectations in order to claim her own happy ending.

©2018 Miriam Parker (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Rewarding....[An] accomplished debut.” (Publishers Weekly)

"This one screams smart beach read: A woman on the cusp of everything she wants in life - dream job, committed boyfriend, luxe apartment - suddenly decides to let it all go." (Entertainment Weekly)

“Parker's bingeable novel is perfect for those who've fantasized about their own path not taken.” (Real Simple)

"This debut novel about a young woman following her heart and creating her happiness is engaging and fun. Parker takes her place next to similar writers such as Laura Dave and Jane Green." (Library Journal)

Good Story - spoiled by needless repetition

This was an interesting story; however, I was tempted MANY times to delete it. The seemingly endless tags of “I said”, “he/she said”, were exceedingly irritating!

An ok, easy read

I liked this book, but I wanted a little more meat to it... it was a little bit surfacey and didn't have a lot of depth. I also struggled with the narration... I didn't feel like it suited the characters very well, and I noticed a lot of the "he said", "I said", etc... that should normally blend into the story. Overall, pretty good little story, easy to listen to.

Great story line, poor writing

Be prepared for a lot oh "he said..." "she said....." "he said...." But story captured me enough to finish book.

Sonoma Escape

A sweet, escapist story. Nothing very realistic, although the author tried to inject some relationship drama. The likable characters keep the story engaging ( my favorite character I see Celeste, she's a hoot. The narration was excellent. Overall, wonderful escapist fiction

Meh story and narration

The narrative included at least 3,000 "I said", "he said", "she said"s. It was painful and I felt embarrassed for the narrator.
The story had nice descriptions of food, wine and Sonoma, but other than that - MEH

Great story about love, self discovery, and wine.

Loved this escape to wine country and one woman's journey to self discovery and happiness.

Not an attention-grabber

This book appealed to me, and I enjoyed the first few chapters, but then I lost interest. I didn’t enjoy the narrator, her accents for the characters made them all sound snooty and annoyed. Then, the storyline was very slow. I gave it up halfway through, and that is rare for me.

Sweet book

This book is an easy read and a little bit of a Hallmark movie (which I love of course). Makes you feel at home in Sonoma.

He said, she said, I said

Oh my dear heavens, I wanted to poke my ears out with the amount of the book that read as follows
“Blah blah blah” I said
“Blah blah” he said
“Blah” I said
“Blah blah blah” he said
I said, he said, I said, she said..... over and over and over.
The narrator’s “accents” were terrible, too, but not as bad as the incessant amount of “I said, he said” .... I really wanted to enjoy the lighthearted story, but I was struggling

Light read

I enjoyed the book. Light and easy. My only complaint was the negative picture that was drawn of NYC. In my opinion the author could have made Sonoma seem wonderful without bashing NYC.