The Travelers by Regina Porter
The Travelers by Regina Porter
"It's hard to believe that this sprawling saga of two American clans and the various branches of their family trees is a debut novel. Stretching from the rural south to Vietnam in the war years to present-day New York and beyond, this is a story in which the characters' lives intersect in fascinating, surprising ways. Regina Porter's writing is beautiful and memorable, and she's structured this book in a manner that feels fresh and almost musical. This is a book to take your time with, and it'll keep you in its grip long after you've turned the final page." - Recommended by Erika
Meet James Samuel Vincent, an affluent Manhattan attorney who shirks his modest Irish American background but hews to his father’s meandering ways. James muddles through a topsy-turvy relationship with his son, Rufus, which is further complicated when Rufus marries Claudia Christie.
Claudia’s mother—Agnes Miller Christie—is a beautiful African American woman who survives a chance encounter on a Georgia road that propels her into a new life in the Bronx. Soon after, her husband, Eddie Christie, is called to duty on an air craft carrier in Vietnam, where Tom Stoppard’s play “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” becomes Eddie’s life anchor, as he grapples with mounting racial tensions on the ship and counts the days until he will see Agnes again.
These unforgettable characters’ lives intersect with a cast of lovers and friends—the unapologetic black lesbian who finds her groove in 1970s Berlin; a moving man stranded in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, during a Thanksgiving storm; two half-brothers who meet as adults in a crayon factory; and a Coney Island waitress whose Prince Charming is too good to be true.