Stevie‘s review of Million Dollar Road by Amy Conner
Contemporary Women’s Fiction published by Kensington 26 May 15

Sometimes one small careless act can have huge unforeseen consequences on a number of very disparate people. So it is with one uncharacteristically rash decision by the otherwise cautious and self-assured, mature for her years, Lireinne Hooten. All the characters are onstage long before that event, however: Lireinne working her menial job at the alligator farm, Con the former hotshot lawyer who now wheels and deals on behalf of the farm’s owners, Con’s ex-wife Emma who sells organic vegetables at the farmers’ market to supplement her alimony while she recovers from the mess Con made of her life, and Lizzie who gave up her own career for Con but now finds herself dissatisfied as a childless homemaker. These four touch on each other’s lives and on the people around them in ways that are sometimes sad, but often uplifting.

Lireinne developed an eating disorder and then dropped out of school after being raped, but the long walk to and from work every day has led to her blossoming physically and regaining some of her confidence. Earning minimum wage for her contracted hours cleaning the alligator sheds, but usually spending far more time than that to complete the job, her life could be grim, but she makes the best of it as she does of taking care of her ungrateful half-brother and her loving, but even more overworked stepfather.

Lireinne’s one real friend, beside the prized white alligator, Snowball (and I did wonder if the Animal Farm reference was deliberate) is an old horse abandoned when his owners sold up. Her life seems to be changing for the better when Con takes an interest in her and promotes her to an office job, but all he really wants is to get into her knickers – and everyone at the farm knows it – so Lireinne finds herself fending off his advances while dealing with jealousy from her co-workers.

She gets another chance, however, when she’s cautiously befriended by Emma, and although the pair of them are too damaged to make the friendship work, this does lead to other connections forming around them. Then Lireinne makes that rash choice I mentioned at the start.

I was cross with her for a long part of the book; even though she’s young and damaged, I kind of expected her to know better. On the other hand, the one person that really suffers for her actions was hardly my favourite character, and the chain of events that is set in motion ultimately leads to everyone being able to move on to places they maybe wouldn’t have reached without that push. I hate being cryptic in my reviews, but so much happens in this book that’s surprising, I don’t want to spoil it for readers.

Ultimately this is a very hopeful book, and I grew to love almost all the characters. Highly recommended.

Grade: A

Summary:

Set in the heart of Louisiana, Amy Conner’s spellbinding new novel tells of a young woman yearning for a better existence—and of the secret longings that will change the lives of all those around her.

Eighteen-year-old Lireinne Hooten has always been on the lowest rung of the ladder. Abandoned by her mother, Lireinne lives with her stepfather in an old trailer on Million Dollar Road. Every day she walks the long mile, through a canopy of live oaks, to her job at the world’s largest alligator farm. Shy and overweight in high school, Lireinne has become lean and resilient from months of hosing out the huge cement barns. And just like Snowball—the enormous, all-white alligator she feeds illicit treats every day—she’s hungry to be free.

Lireinne’s boss, Con Costello, is powerful, attractive, and used to getting exactly what he desires. Now that he’s noticed Lireinne’s haunting beauty, he wants her too. But unlike Con’s needy second wife, Lizzie, or Emma, his still heartbroken ex, Lireinne isn’t interested. Undeterred, Con’s growing obsession will upend all their lives—compelling Lizzie to confront the hard truth about her marriage, pushing Emma past her self-imposed isolation and back into the world. And for Lireinne, it will lead to an unexpected chance to redefine herself, far away from her past and from Million Dollar Road.

Insightful and atmospheric, Million Dollar Road is a richly observed novel of our most keenly felt appetites—for love, acceptance, and a place to belong.

Read an excerpt.