Woolly admits that one of the four cars, a Cadillac convertible, is his, something he inherited from his father. . Townhouse then directs Emmett to where Duchess will be that night, which turns out to be a raunchy circus show attached to a brothel. Macie had threatened that she wouldnt stay there waiting for him if he did it, but he proceeded anyway. I was also guessing that Sarah was taking an opiate, like ladanum or opium (brown bottle) that when mixed with a Benzodiazepine like valium would be deadly. Ackerlys body jolts, slumps lower and his bladder releases. He also mentions Duchess going to Harlem first (which Emmett seems to understand was likely for the purpose of visiting Townhouse). Which characters, in your opinion, found what they were looking for? Pastor John asks to see whats in there. He takes the bat with him, and he takes some clothes from Denniss closet as well. Hed ended up the the room with the safe (while Emmett was upstairs with Woollys body and while Duchess was in the boathouse). For the pink pills, some sort of downer, anti-anxiety pill, it seemed like? Billy quickly falls asleep. With Emmett busy at Ma Belles place, Woolly and Duchess have Billy in tow. Over fifteen years ago, three friends and I formed a reading group. When the phone rings, its Woollys sister who sounds unhappy with him. Below, I have posed some questions of the sort that might have surfaced in one of our discussions. Woolly has medicine that he takes, and the trustee of his estate has had him declared "temperamentally unfit." Duchess has hatched a plan to rescue Woolly's rightful trust of $150,000 from the family safe out in the sprawling, Adirondack summer estate. Duchess had referenced a building that houses all the big agencies, but Emmett cant remember what the name was. Duchess thinks back to how you used to be able to make out the word Othello printed on the case. . Emmett then takes a moment to talk about the story Duchess had told Billy about sneaking out to see movies. He sees a scene with Sarah, Sally, Woolly, Billy and Emmett. Duchess had instead flagged a car to hitch a ride back, but the driver was a cop who had reported him to the warden. Afterwards, Emmett goes for a drive to clear his head. Before Emmett leaves, Townhouse tells him that Duchess had mentioned that he and Woolly were going to watch the Circus show in Red Hook at 6PM that night. As Duchess tries to get to the money before it flies away, he drowns. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is quite a journey. Theyd had a delightful picnic. Given inflation, $50,000 in 1954 would be the equivalent of about $500,000 today. He offers it to Billy, who initially declines it, saying that its too precious. While Emmett thinks his brother's plan of tracking down their mother in California is crazy, he knows that California (due to its high population growth) is a good place for him to pursue his goal of achieving financial stability by renovating and selling houses. He then goes into the room that he had stayed at the longest. Dennis is furious to learn that Woolly is not at Salina. Ask the Author. He renamed himself Abacus. Laying in deb, Duchess reminisces about traveling with his father in August of 1944 when he was 8. The next morning, Emmett heads to Harlem to pick up his now-yellow Studebaker which has gotten some other upgrades as well. He decides to go with Ulysses to travel via boxcar and seek out his own adventure. In present day, Pastor John sees Ulysses slump over. However, Billy wants to move to California. Emmett reminds Billy that its not necessarily safe to take food from random strangers. Then, six months ago like her father had met a woman, Alice Thompson, and hed broken his routine. Sarah finds Woolly looking at the dollhouse, and they reminisce about past holidays. Townhouse didnt make a big deal about it, but Duchess knows he owes Townhouse. what medicine is woolly taking in the lincoln highway. He find Duchess in the hallway pointing a rifle at him. Ransom, a neighbor and family friend who has known Emmett his whole life, meets them outside. Web design by Adrian Kinloch, The Lincoln Highway: Questions For Consideration. Finally, he tells Woolly that hes going back to Salina to finish his sentence, and afterwards Woolly is going to work for his friend at the stock exchange to teach Woolly some responsibility. What about this novel strikes you as particularly American? In Chapter 1, Emmett arrives at Woolly's great-grandfather's house to find Woolly dead and Woolly still trying to get the safe open. With no money and no mode of transportation, Emmett and Billy hitch a ride on a train to go to New York to track down Duchess and Woolly. It seems to indicate that his father knew Duchess would come looking for him and did not want to be there when that happened. Billy explains how he loves his book, and the Professor asks Billy about himself. Elsewhere, Abacus thinks about his own life. Woolly, the other stowaway, is a sweet, stunted, "medicine"-addicted naf from a wealthy Northeastern family. His father was an insurance adjuster for damaged ships and his mother was a seamstress. The story is about 18-year-old Emmett Watson, who was incarcerated in a juvenile detention work camp. Emmett finds himself regarding the drunk man with some measure of disdain, while thinking about how Mr. Parker is probably someone who has always been able to get anything he wanted his whole life. She thinks to herself that she does it because its time-consuming, old-fashioned, and unnecessary. Mr. I, too, found this helpful since I had read the book months ago, and now it is my book clubs choice, but shouldnt a literary website copyread its work?!?!?! After leaving the hotel, they met up with Miss Maples, the magicians assistant in their troupe. Emmett reluctantly agrees. In Chapter 2, Woolly and Duchess sneak out early and make their way to Woolly's great-grandfather's house in the Adirondacks in order to take the $150K from the safe. Outside, Emmett checks on his powder-blue 1948 Studebaker Land Cruiser. Posted May 29, 2022 May 29, 2022 . Woolly lets himself inside, taking note of aspects of the household that have changed in his absence. He notes how Denniss office has all sorts of photos, but doesnt have a single photo of Sarah. That night, Emmett approaches Fitzy. Set in 1954, "The Lincoln Highway" is considered by many to be his best. Emmett sees that Duchess has broken in through the back, used chairs to barricade the nuns inside their rooms and has stolen spoons to distribute the six jars of strawberry preserves to all the boys there. $ 13.49. As he says this, Duchess picks up a whiskey bottle and thinks possibly hitting Fitzy with it. It seems that Emmetts mother suffered from depression, which was exacerbated by post-partum depression, which is part of the reason why she left. Woolly makes his way to FAO Schwarz. Townhouse ended up crossing without him. However, his brother-in-law Dennis had him declared "unfit". However, by the next morning, she was already gone. Barnes and Noble. By now, Ulysses, Emmett and Billy are settled in the boxcar together with Billy reading from his book the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Before they part ways, Emmett asks what Townhouse plans to do next. Afterwards, Emmett thinks about how he had been free of debts and obligations that morning, but was now encumbered by two promises hed made that day. This morning, Emmett had recalled that the Statler building was where Duchess had said all the big agencies were housed. Hilaryan old friend and member of my book groupobserved to me in passing. This reader did learn about the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental road for automobiles in the United States, dedicated in 1913, but the book is really about four young characters in 1954 who are seeking various futures for themselves. Emmett is shocked by their. Duchess says that he already found Woolly, but that it was too late to do anything about it. In present day, Emmett thanks Mr. The book ends with Emmett leaving Duchess in a leaky boat with no oaks and with his $50K share in cash. Its not clear what Sarah was going to ask Woolly, but it can probably be inferred that theres something he doesnt want to talk about or answer to based on his response. In the novel The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, when 18-year-old Emmett Watson told his younger brother William "Billy" Watson they needed to make a fresh start, Billy suggested they follow the route their mother took when she abandoned them, along . Before Emmett leaves, Sally mentions that when they do finally hit the road, she plans to go to San Francisco as well. That night, Woolly and Duchess stay in a motor lodge called Howard Johnsons (HoJos) roughly 50 miles west of Chicago. Emmett sees that the book is from 1951, but Ma Belle tells him that with society people, the addresses never change. However, Duchess derails the plan. Afterwards, they both agree that they are square. The first is a page torn out of Ralph Waldo Emersons Essays, describing the value of farming your own land. There were also other reports of thefts at the hotel, and Fitzy swore a statement saying hed seen Duchess exiting rooms where he shouldnt have been. At his great-grandfathers house, Woolly reminisces about the various parts of the house. Billy says that after their father died, he found a collection of post cards addressed to them from their mother, who left them 8 years ago. Outside, Emmett smashes a windowpane to get back into the house. Woolly then muses that it would be magnificent to have a one-of-a-kind kind of day. Woolly hated the thesaurus and the unnecessary amount of alternative words it offered. He had then grabbed the shovel to wait for the right moment to knock Pastor John out. . Three of the boys, Emmet Watson, Duchess, and Woolly are former juvenile detainees. Fitzy soon shows up as expected. The Bibliofile's review of The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. In that moment, a black man named Ulysses who knows Pastor John enters the boxcar. Emmett agrees. In the station, Emmett tries to approach one of the workmen at the station to try to get advice on the best way to hop a train, but hes dismissed. By Dori Moody. I sent you a $5 tip. Instead, he would rather use Fitzys feelings of remorse to guilt him into telling him where his father is. One of Woolly's relatives actually says something like since his Father's death, he hasn't been the same. He had just found an axe in the boathouse and had resumed trying to get into the safe just as Emmett had shown up. It took him six tries to get it open. The Lincoln Highway begins with eighteen-year-old Emmett, recently returned from juvenile detention in 1954, reuniting with his little brother, Billy, on their foreclosed Nebraska farm. That night, situated in the trains empty car, Emmett and Billy open the cars hatch (with warning from the panhandler to shut it when they near the Chicago station mid-way). Billy hopes she might still be living there now. The Lincoln Highway A Novel. Back downstairs, Duchess books rooms for him and Woolly for the night. How have their parents choices influenced their own desires and ambitions? He thinks about how his boarding schools had been like that, too. Emmett and Billy are then visited by two people. Meanwhile, Emmett and Billy head for San Francisco. Billy has recently found some old postcards indicating their mother (who left them 8 years ago) once took the journey there down the Lincoln Highway. He asks them to make a pit stop at the orphanage he stayed in for a few years as a child (because his father abandoned him there temporarily). It detracts from the content & at the risk of sounding like an assh*le, it makes me feel as if this blog isnt serious, or credible. Warden Williams drops Emmett Watson off at his house after being released from juvenile detention at Salina after completing his sentence. Woolly, the other stowaway, is a sweet, stunted, "medicine"-addictednaf from a wealthy Northeastern family. 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