When the moment for Gene to take Nancy to her desired death in Coffeeville arrives she is unexpectedly admitted to the secure unit of a nursing home and he is constrained to call upon the help of his two remaining friends: Bob Crenshaw, a man who has been officially dead for forty years, and Jack Guravitch, a disgraced weatherman in the throes of a midlife crisis.
They ‘kidnap’ Nancy and drive to Mississippi in a stolen tour bus once owned by Paul McCartney. Along the way they are joined by a young orphan boy called Eric who is searching for his only surviving family member – an exotic dancer named Susan.
Last Bus to Coffeeville is a funny story about sad things, a chronicle of lives that have jumped the tracks, and a tale of endings and new beginnings.
Review: what a unique and different novel. Totally satisfying and how great is that gorgeous cover, it just pops on my shelf! I began reading this novel and I have to admit, I felt it was a bit slow to begin with, once I really got into it though it was truly entertaining and I could see it unfolding clearly in front of me as if I was watching a quirky indie film!
The description in this novel means that you are never unsure where you are or what is happening. The scenes where the characters enter a new town are always rich with vivid explainations of exactly what is where, what it sounds like, smells like, feels like and you feel as if you are there with the characters. I think I need to use some of this scene setting as an example when I teach descriptive writing! I have to say that the scenes themselves, the quirky places these characters lived and stayed throughout of the novel were possibly my favourite thing about this book!
Actually scratch that, my favourite thing about this book was the ending. Don't get me wrong, this is not a Browadway, all singing all dancing ending, but a truly real ending which is completely befitting of the book itself, I she'd quite a few tears towards the end of the story, but I felt completely warmed and uplifted by the time I got there and just really satisfied by the way things unfurled!
The characters in this book are just that, real characters. This writer was so clever to bring together a group of people in this way. A young boy, a young man and three older people. I don't normally like reading about people very much older than myself, but these characters had such a history, together an separately that I really enjoyed their company for the duration of the novel and didn't mind that they were older. I just really want to see this book as a film because I think it's something that everyone would enjoy and definitely something that stays with you, despite the slow start, this is definitely, something that gains momentum as it rolls towards the finish line, and definitely well worth the read!
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