The Whole Way Home: A Novel

by Sarah Creech Narrated by Johanna Parker, Don Hagen

Overview

A radiant talent on the brink of making it big in Nashville must confront her small-town past and an old love she's never forgotten in this engaging novel-a soulful ballad filled with romance, heartbreak, secrets, and scandal from the author of Season of the Dragonflies.

Playing to packed houses while her hit song rushes up the charts, country singer and fiddler Jo Lover is poised to become a one-name Nashville star like her idols, Loretta, Reba, and Dolly. To ensure her success, Jo has carefully crafted her image: a pretty, sassy, down-to-earth girl from small-town Virginia who pours her heart into her songs.

But the stage persona she's built is threatened when her independent label merges with big-time Capitol Records, bringing Nashville heartthrob JD Gunn-her first love-back into her life. Long ago Jo played with JD's band. But they parted ways, and took their own crooked roads to stardom. Now Jo's excited-and terrified-to see him again.

When the label reunites them for a show, the old sparks fly, the duet they sing goes viral, and fans begin clamoring for more-igniting the media's interest in the compelling singer. Why is a small-town girl like Jo so quiet about her past? When did she and JD first meet? What split them apart? All too soon, the painful secret she's been hiding is uncovered, a shocking revelation that threatens to destroy her reputation and her dreams. To salvage her life and her career, Jo must finally face the past-and her feelings for JD-to become the true Nashville diva she was meant to be.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

05/01/2017
Country singer/songwriter Jo Lover's star is about to go supernova. She's paid her dues, and thanks to hard work and staying true to her classic country roots, she'll reap what she's sown. But then her record label signs her first love and turns her life upside down. JD Gunn made it big in L.A.; some say by selling out true country music for So-Cal fame and fortune. Now he's back, brand-new contract in hand, hoping Nashville and making music with the woman he never stopped loving will make him feel complete. Like a soulful country ballad, Creech's (Season of Dragonflies) sophomore offering is replete with regrets and second chances expertly fueled by a vividly descriptive and candid narrative gifting readers a timeless tale and well-thought-out characters. The realistic peek into the cutthroat country recording industry excels. VERDICT Fans of Karen White and Kristin Hannah will devour this new novel from a delightfully fresh voice in women's fiction.—Debbie Haupt, St. Charles City-Cty. Lib. Dist., St Peters, MO

SEPTEMBER 2017 - AudioFile

Narrator Johanna Parker takes the lead in this sprawling love story set amid the country music industry. Jo Lover and J.D. Gunn began making music together when they were 10-year-olds growing up in Appalachia. The audiobook unfolds through scenes of old and new romances, as well as professional dreams realized and forgotten. Using a light Southern accent, Parker moves easily between characters, of which there are many. For the male characters, she reverts to a convincing lower, huskier tone. Former country music star Don Hagen voices a handful of memorable chapters, including those that bookend the story. His rumbling baritone and easy delivery ground the story in the nitty-gritty of Nashville. A.S. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-04-04
The dreams of up-and-coming country musicians clash with the reality of the industry in the latest novel by Creech (Season of the Dragonflies, 2014).Jo Lover is poised to become the next big star of country music, with a stage persona and sound in the same vein as Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn. Having grown up poor in rural Virginia, Jo has built an identity as a strong, independent woman in trademark red boots. But when her independent label signs a Top 40 band fronted by her first boyfriend and former musical partner, J.D. Gunn, she finds her entire world turned upside down—and threatened by a secret she'd managed to keep out of the press until J.D.'s spotlight shone on her as well. On the cusp of the fame she's longed for since she was a little girl, Jo is forced to grapple with her dark past under the close attention of the media. The novel teases out some of the most compelling contradictions in country music, including the role of careful image curation in an industry built on the perception of authenticity and the retrograde place of women in the male-dominated field. The author places the darker, more corporate forces in music today alongside the lives of Nashville hopefuls, making their worlds intersect in interesting (albeit sometimes clichéd) ways. Creech's portrait of Nashville is complex rather than romantic, and she shows that music is as much about business as passion. Although the rags-to-riches premise feels overdone, the novel's realism and its portrayal of the conflicts in country music make it engaging from start to finish.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173411488
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/06/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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