This started out as such a great day. Really.
I got up at 5:15 a.m, was out the door by 5:30, and knocked out a 4-mile run. Came home, took the dog out for his morning constitutional, made coffee, got my upper-body weight work in (here’s to all of us past-50 women trying to hold on to bone density and muscle mass, am I right?) and was thinking to myself, “It’s really been a nice couple of days, weather-wise, I’m in my summer era, all is right with my corner of the world.”
And then I opened my work email. And I knew it was going to be a rough day.
This is all to say, you never know what the next five minutes is going to bring. I don’t think anyone can ever be prepared for a turn on a dime. Surprises are by their very nature … surprising. And you can plan all you want — that is helpful. But it doesn’t take the sting out of sudden change.
Kevin Wilson’s “Run For the Hills” is contemporary fiction. It is very much in his lighthearted, even humorous approach to some very deep themes. In this case, parental rejection multiple times over. And it’s very much about unexpected change and the ability to embrace it over time.
Madeline “Mad” Hill is an almost 30-year-old organic farmer, with her mother, in Tennessee, settled in her destiny and waiting on locals and tourists that are in search of the perfect eggs. It’s on a regular morning working their booth when a stranger arrives — Rueben “Rube” Hill, a half-brother from Boston she didn’t know she had.
Life turns on a dime.
The next thing she knows, she’s agreed to a cross-country road trip in search of other half-siblings that are the result of her father, who is a serial monogamist-slash-abandoner. And for her half-sister Pep and half-brother Tom, life turns a a dime for them as well.
If you’ve ever read any of Wilson’s other work (“Perfect Little World” and “The Family Fang” being some of my favorites), Wilson’s disappearing parents and related familial themes run deep, and he brings some serious heft to these topics while staying, as mentioned above, somewhat light and even comical. He’s a fantastic and engaging writer, and his work is a reminder that you should never take relationships for granted — stoicism in action.
“Run For the Hills” is a perfect length for a weekend road trip or beach bag read. Read it, take it to heart, and be grateful for both the little things and the big things that bring joy.
LitzyDitz 