The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring #ShannonBowring #PatriciaShade @TantorAudio

the setup…
The year is 1990 and the town is Dalton, Maine, the epitome of small town America. Trudy Haskell is the town librarian, married to Richard, the only doctor. Her best friend is Bev Theroux who’s married to Bill and they’re parents of one son, Nate. But Trudy and Bev are more than just best friends, something Richard accepted many years ago. He’s not sure if Bill knows. Nate is married to Bridget who recently gave birth to their daughter Sophie a few weeks before her due date. No one notices that she seems more wearier than you’d expect for a new mother. Dr. Haskell knows a lot about the people of Dalton, including Rose Douglas who’s being abused by the father of her two young boys, but he’ll protect her secret as he does for all of those he tends. And there’s Greg, a teen who is struggling with feelings he finds hard to define for his two close friends.

the heart of the story…
It’s a quiet story but rich in its telling of the complexities of the people in this town. Their issues aren’t unique but there’s something different about how they handle the challenges presented to them. People don’t talk about those things, let alone share their feelings with anybody, which leaves them to their own devices to figure things out. It takes a tragedy, sparked by what seemed at the time to be an ordinary event, to move them out of their comfort zone and reach out in a way that was different, subtle but highly impactful.

the narration…
Even the narrator’s performance was understated and subtle, perfect for the story, even though I didn’t initially think so. She let the characters speak for themselves…brilliantly.

the bottom line…
The people of Dalton might not seem all that interesting on the surface but something about all of them had me mesmerized through the end. I found myself swept up in their joys, heartache, crossroads and troubles…invested in how they’d manage their situations. The ending was just as understated as the story, just as it should be…offering the promise of better things to come.

Book Info

• Release Date: November 28, 2023
  Narrator: Patricia Shade
  Audio Length: 7 hours, 41 minutes
  Publisher: Tantor Audio

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