Adrift with The Lauras

“Do you know where we’re going?”

“Does anyone?” (271-272)

Sara Taylor weaves a tale of wanderlust, quest, and self-discovery in The Lauras.

The tale begins with Ma fleeing in the middle of the night from a routine fight with her spouse. She drags along Alex, her adolescent child.

Ma’s quest is to reconnect with parts of her past. Some of these re-connections involve burying that said past or literally burning it down. Alex’s quest is different in an adolescent journey of self-discovery.

I enjoyed the last third of the book the most as Alex actually self-identifies on the page as genderless and as the journey begins to have a meaning and an endpoint. All sorts of characters from Ma’s past from an old boyfriend (and basically a pimp), foster parents, college friends, a lost daughter and old loves. As they crisscross the country, Alex is steadfast in the support of Ma.

It took me a long time to get through this book, primarily due to time constraints. I wonder if I had finished it in successive reading bouts if I would have enjoyed it more. I enjoyed Taylor’s writing style but felt sometimes like I was reading numerous novels strung together with loose connections. I am passing it along to an avid reader friend and am anxious to see her take.