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Moon Road
It’s irksome to her, how well she knows this man, how much he has changed and how exactly the same he is ...
Kathleen and Yannick have not spoken for nineteen years, not since what happened with their daughter.
Now, there’s unexpected news from the other side of the country, and the call for a road trip they can only make together.
As they rattle over two thousand miles in a pick-up, through forests, over mountains and into service stations, an alluring history reveals itself: of fierce love, complicated ex-wives and headstrong children, and of a unique bond that never really went away.
As they drive, argue, gossip and reminisce, an unexpected future for this once estranged couple begins to emerge.
Kathleen and Yannick have not spoken for nineteen years, not since what happened with their daughter.
Now, there’s unexpected news from the other side of the country, and the call for a road trip they can only make together.
As they rattle over two thousand miles in a pick-up, through forests, over mountains and into service stations, an alluring history reveals itself: of fierce love, complicated ex-wives and headstrong children, and of a unique bond that never really went away.
As they drive, argue, gossip and reminisce, an unexpected future for this once estranged couple begins to emerge.
368 pages, Paperback
First published May 16, 2024
81 people are currently reading
3304 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Leipciger
7 books124 followersSarah Leipciger was born in Peterborough, Canada. She spent her teenage years in Toronto, later moving to Vancouver Island to study Creative Writing and English literature at the University of Victoria. Leipciger left Canada in 2001 for Korea and South East Asia, and currently lives in London with her three children, where she teaches creative writing to men in prison. She is also a Creative Writing tutor at CityLit, and a pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 295 reviews
November 3, 2024
A road trip across this beautiful country. Starting just east of Toronto and heading all the way to Victoria, BC.
But this isn’t a joyous vacation. This is an estranged couple who’ve been reunited for this trip after 20 years of silence. And for one reason only: To get answers about their daughter whom they haven’t seen or heard from in several years.
On this journey they learn more about each other: What they’ve missed and loved. Insights into who they were and who they’ve grown to be. The pain they share that can be comforting yet isolating. An examination of relationships: with spouses, with parents, with children, with themselves.
The layers of love, grief, forgiveness, and acceptance.
Leipciger’s descriptions elevated me from the majestic Canadian Rockies to witnessing the craggy shores of Victoria and smelling the sulphur of the springs and the salt of the ocean.
The beauty of the landscape contrasting with the dark memories and the reason they are there.
A heartbreaking yet beautiful story.
4.5⭐️
But this isn’t a joyous vacation. This is an estranged couple who’ve been reunited for this trip after 20 years of silence. And for one reason only: To get answers about their daughter whom they haven’t seen or heard from in several years.
On this journey they learn more about each other: What they’ve missed and loved. Insights into who they were and who they’ve grown to be. The pain they share that can be comforting yet isolating. An examination of relationships: with spouses, with parents, with children, with themselves.
The layers of love, grief, forgiveness, and acceptance.
Leipciger’s descriptions elevated me from the majestic Canadian Rockies to witnessing the craggy shores of Victoria and smelling the sulphur of the springs and the salt of the ocean.
The beauty of the landscape contrasting with the dark memories and the reason they are there.
A heartbreaking yet beautiful story.
4.5⭐️
March 9, 2024
4-5 stars
Many years ago, Kathleen is married to Yannick, but they haven’t spoken for nineteen years after what happened to their daughter, Una. It’s 19 years since he left Kathleen‘s driveway, and since then, not one word. However, today he rings her to say he’s coming to town whether she likes it or not. He tells her he’s driving out west to Vancouver because there’s potential news which is highly significant since it’s 7900 days or so (about 22 years) since Una‘s disappearance. Yannick wants Kathleen to go with him to see if the discovery of historic bones is indeed their daughter. Kathleen is very reluctant, but eventually she agrees. Is it a wild goose chase? Whether it is or not, Yannick thinks the long journey will be worth it, and they duly set off for the 2500 mile drive in a rickety old pick up truck. A long journey in which to talk, to reminisce and may find a way back to each other.
Although this does sound bleak after all it’s about loss, grief and the suffering of not knowing, this is a beautiful novel which is wonderfully told. Sarah Leipciger effortlessly pulls you into the storytelling and holds my attention throughout. It’s not just about their missing daughter and how they have coped or not, but it’s also a reflective novel on family life with its ups and downs and some dysfunction. It looks at how it feels to watch your children grow up, their rights of passage, becoming independent and flying the nest. We view the lack of harmony at times between Kathleen and Una, the chaotic life of Yannick and his many relationships and his other children. It feels authentic and real.
The two central characters of Kathleen and Yannick are so well portrayed. Kathleen is strong, single-minded and a tough independent cookie. She’s straight talking, awkward, she can be very demanding - just ask her friend Heather! Comparisons have been made to Elizabeth Strout’s female characters, such as Olive Kitteridge and I can see that, but in all honesty, I like this writing and this character better than what it has been compared to. Kathleen is likeable for all her flaws.
As for Yannick, he’s a restless, unsettled, soul, seeking something that he doesn’t find. He’s now feeling his age, creaky bones and aching joints which comes to us all. The journey is symbolic of Yannick’s search for something as they both search for Una.
I love the journey across Canada, you get a great tour across the beautiful, huge country. It’s colourfully described as the pair discuss and reflect as the backdrop reflects back through the truck windows. The journey enables us to understand the situation surrounding Una, the fears, the suspicions, and the desperation to find an answer. The pair start out uncomfortable with each other, but that changes as they become comfortable enough to snipe without rancour and may be move to acceptance.
There are some inserts, which we assume are Una these are tense but also very moving.
Overall, this is a fantastic, thoughtful, moving book and one I highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld, for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
Many years ago, Kathleen is married to Yannick, but they haven’t spoken for nineteen years after what happened to their daughter, Una. It’s 19 years since he left Kathleen‘s driveway, and since then, not one word. However, today he rings her to say he’s coming to town whether she likes it or not. He tells her he’s driving out west to Vancouver because there’s potential news which is highly significant since it’s 7900 days or so (about 22 years) since Una‘s disappearance. Yannick wants Kathleen to go with him to see if the discovery of historic bones is indeed their daughter. Kathleen is very reluctant, but eventually she agrees. Is it a wild goose chase? Whether it is or not, Yannick thinks the long journey will be worth it, and they duly set off for the 2500 mile drive in a rickety old pick up truck. A long journey in which to talk, to reminisce and may find a way back to each other.
Although this does sound bleak after all it’s about loss, grief and the suffering of not knowing, this is a beautiful novel which is wonderfully told. Sarah Leipciger effortlessly pulls you into the storytelling and holds my attention throughout. It’s not just about their missing daughter and how they have coped or not, but it’s also a reflective novel on family life with its ups and downs and some dysfunction. It looks at how it feels to watch your children grow up, their rights of passage, becoming independent and flying the nest. We view the lack of harmony at times between Kathleen and Una, the chaotic life of Yannick and his many relationships and his other children. It feels authentic and real.
The two central characters of Kathleen and Yannick are so well portrayed. Kathleen is strong, single-minded and a tough independent cookie. She’s straight talking, awkward, she can be very demanding - just ask her friend Heather! Comparisons have been made to Elizabeth Strout’s female characters, such as Olive Kitteridge and I can see that, but in all honesty, I like this writing and this character better than what it has been compared to. Kathleen is likeable for all her flaws.
As for Yannick, he’s a restless, unsettled, soul, seeking something that he doesn’t find. He’s now feeling his age, creaky bones and aching joints which comes to us all. The journey is symbolic of Yannick’s search for something as they both search for Una.
I love the journey across Canada, you get a great tour across the beautiful, huge country. It’s colourfully described as the pair discuss and reflect as the backdrop reflects back through the truck windows. The journey enables us to understand the situation surrounding Una, the fears, the suspicions, and the desperation to find an answer. The pair start out uncomfortable with each other, but that changes as they become comfortable enough to snipe without rancour and may be move to acceptance.
There are some inserts, which we assume are Una these are tense but also very moving.
Overall, this is a fantastic, thoughtful, moving book and one I highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld, for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
October 17, 2024
A character driven novel… the story of Kathleen and Yannick, divorced parents of Una, who has been missing for decades.
They had remained friends for the first several years after separating but got into an argument and haven’t spoken for 19 yrs.
Now, in present day.. bones are found many miles away on Victoria Island.., the couple lives in Ontario.
Yannick persuades Kathleen to take a road trip out there for her to give a DNA test to see if the bones belong to Una.
In these pages are fierceness and tenderness set amongst the natural beauty as they travel through Canada.
We get glimpses in between of Una.. from after she first left home.
A beautiful story.
They had remained friends for the first several years after separating but got into an argument and haven’t spoken for 19 yrs.
Now, in present day.. bones are found many miles away on Victoria Island.., the couple lives in Ontario.
Yannick persuades Kathleen to take a road trip out there for her to give a DNA test to see if the bones belong to Una.
In these pages are fierceness and tenderness set amongst the natural beauty as they travel through Canada.
We get glimpses in between of Una.. from after she first left home.
A beautiful story.
August 23, 2024
On the Road to Find Out
Review of the NetGalley Kindle ARC (downloaded July 31, 2024) of the upcoming Penguin Random House Canada paperback (August 27, 2024).
Kathleen and Yannick are the 70+ something parents of daughter Una who went missing in Tofino, British Columbia close to 22 years ago. They were already divorced by that time and in the intervening years Yannick has remarried twice and parented 4 other children. He hasn't even spoken to Kathleen for 19 years. Kathleen has withdrawn into a somewhat curmudgeonly life (apparently the female equivalent is supposed to be termagant, but does anyone really know that word?) of flower farming in a small town on the Otonabee River (near Peterborough) in Ontario, Canada.
Yannick suddenly appears at Kathleen's annual remembrance party for Una. Both of them have received a phone call from RCMP investigators in British Columbia. Unidentified bones have been found when a hiking trail was being cleared / built in parklands outside Tofino. Kathleen's DNA* is required for testing but she has hesitated to provide it, perhaps wanting to keep hope alive in Una's possible survival. Yannick convinces her to join him in a cross-country road trip (he is afraid of flying) to British Columbia to provide the DNA (rather than do it via a local lab) and to also seek some closure at the site where the bones were found.
A map which mostly traces Kathleen and Yannick's journey across Canada. Note that the direct route map (see in the Trivia below) through the States is not correct, although that would have been a shorter journey. Map image obtained from Google Maps.
That setup perhaps overstays its welcome, but when they hit the road and both bicker and snipe at each other, but gradually reconnect, the book really came alive for me. I've always enjoyed road books and this one had the humour and the pain of old partners becoming reacquainted and reaching a new found acceptance. The book examines the different ways we deal with family and grief as it contrasts Kathleen's and Yannick's lives.
As the journey progresses, we read flashbacks of their original trip to Tofino when Una was first reported missing. We also get intermittent peeks into Una's own life in her fateful final days. Not everyone's questions will be answered by the end, but the reader does obtain closure and Sarah Leipciger provides a somewhat transcendental conclusion.
My thanks to author Sarah Leipciger, Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this preview ARC, in exchange for which I provide this honest review.
Soundtrack
It also provided my lede, as I couldn't help but think of the Cat Stevens song On the Road to Find Out from the Tea for the Tillerman (1970) album. You can listen to that track on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
In the book, Kathleen is listening to the car radio when an old favourite song of hers by the Violent Femmes comes on. The song is unnamed, but from the few sample lyrics quoted it is obviously American Music from the Why Do Birds Sing? (1991) album. You can listen to the song on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
Footnote, Trivia and Links
* The DNA genealogical testing which only a mother can do is Mitochondrial DNA or mDNA testing. These are passed unchanged from mother to child but not by the father. It is especially useful in the forensic & anthropological cases of testing bones in which the nuclear DNA is degraded. You can read more about Mitochondrial DNA at Wikipedia.
Author Sarah Leipciger provides an article which features photographs of some of the locations in Kathleen's & Yannick's journey. The default map which shows the shortest journey through the United States is not the actual trip through Canada though. You can read the article Travel to Canada's Moon Road with Sarah Leipciger at The Book Trail.
Review of the NetGalley Kindle ARC (downloaded July 31, 2024) of the upcoming Penguin Random House Canada paperback (August 27, 2024).
Kathleen and Yannick are the 70+ something parents of daughter Una who went missing in Tofino, British Columbia close to 22 years ago. They were already divorced by that time and in the intervening years Yannick has remarried twice and parented 4 other children. He hasn't even spoken to Kathleen for 19 years. Kathleen has withdrawn into a somewhat curmudgeonly life (apparently the female equivalent is supposed to be termagant, but does anyone really know that word?) of flower farming in a small town on the Otonabee River (near Peterborough) in Ontario, Canada.
Yannick suddenly appears at Kathleen's annual remembrance party for Una. Both of them have received a phone call from RCMP investigators in British Columbia. Unidentified bones have been found when a hiking trail was being cleared / built in parklands outside Tofino. Kathleen's DNA* is required for testing but she has hesitated to provide it, perhaps wanting to keep hope alive in Una's possible survival. Yannick convinces her to join him in a cross-country road trip (he is afraid of flying) to British Columbia to provide the DNA (rather than do it via a local lab) and to also seek some closure at the site where the bones were found.
A map which mostly traces Kathleen and Yannick's journey across Canada. Note that the direct route map (see in the Trivia below) through the States is not correct, although that would have been a shorter journey. Map image obtained from Google Maps.
That setup perhaps overstays its welcome, but when they hit the road and both bicker and snipe at each other, but gradually reconnect, the book really came alive for me. I've always enjoyed road books and this one had the humour and the pain of old partners becoming reacquainted and reaching a new found acceptance. The book examines the different ways we deal with family and grief as it contrasts Kathleen's and Yannick's lives.
As the journey progresses, we read flashbacks of their original trip to Tofino when Una was first reported missing. We also get intermittent peeks into Una's own life in her fateful final days. Not everyone's questions will be answered by the end, but the reader does obtain closure and Sarah Leipciger provides a somewhat transcendental conclusion.
My thanks to author Sarah Leipciger, Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this preview ARC, in exchange for which I provide this honest review.
Soundtrack
It also provided my lede, as I couldn't help but think of the Cat Stevens song On the Road to Find Out from the Tea for the Tillerman (1970) album. You can listen to that track on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
In the book, Kathleen is listening to the car radio when an old favourite song of hers by the Violent Femmes comes on. The song is unnamed, but from the few sample lyrics quoted it is obviously American Music from the Why Do Birds Sing? (1991) album. You can listen to the song on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
Footnote, Trivia and Links
* The DNA genealogical testing which only a mother can do is Mitochondrial DNA or mDNA testing. These are passed unchanged from mother to child but not by the father. It is especially useful in the forensic & anthropological cases of testing bones in which the nuclear DNA is degraded. You can read more about Mitochondrial DNA at Wikipedia.
Author Sarah Leipciger provides an article which features photographs of some of the locations in Kathleen's & Yannick's journey. The default map which shows the shortest journey through the United States is not the actual trip through Canada though. You can read the article Travel to Canada's Moon Road with Sarah Leipciger at The Book Trail.
August 29, 2024
Kathleen and Yannick, once married, now long divorced, have agreed to meet after 19 years without any contact. Their daughter, Una, has been missing for over 20 years but recently they learned that bones have been discovered on Vancouver Island that might be hers and the coroner is requesting Kathleen’s DNA for comparison. The tests can be done where she lives in Ontario but she knows Yannick wants to go out to BC to see where she may have died, hoping for closure and he wants Kathleen to go with him. The problem is Yannick is afraid of flying and Kathleen has no desire to spend the several days of driving with her ex that it will take to get there. Still after a disastrous annual party Kathleen has for Una, she agrees and the pair set out on a road trip. In the process, they will bicker, reminisce, and grieve together but, most of all, they will rediscover the strong bond that had once held them together even after their divorce.
Moon Road, by Sarah Leipciger, is a beautifully written tale of love, loss, grief, and the renewal of old ties. It is, at times, poignant, heartbreaking, and hopeful. The story moves between present and past as we learn more about their early lives, about how the lack of resolution to Una’s story has affected them and coloured their lives. Kathleen, always head-strong has become a curmudgeon, rude, angry and seeming without empathy, indifferent to the needs of others, her only interest outside of Una’s disappearance, is her flower-growing business. Yannick has thrown himself into work, through several marriages producing several children but always unable to throw off the sorrow caused by Una’s disappearance and the inability to find closure. The tale is interspersed with chapters detailing the story of a young girl referred until the very end as ‘our girl’.
The pace here is slow but that isn’t a criticism. This is a quiet, almost contemplative tale. Leipciger’s beautiful, almost lyrical descriptions of Kathleen’s garden and the changing nature and vastness of Canada kept me enthralled partly, admittedly because I have made my own road trips across Canada and I know many of the places she references. I even enjoyed the humour expressed as Yannick sees the Wawa goose for the first time - it really is quite impressive.
But it is not just the descriptions of Canada’s beauty and changing landscapes that kept me engaged. Leipciger has an amazing ability to not only introduce her characters and to tell their stories but to bring us into their lives, to feel what they are feeling, to evoke empathy and acceptance of their failings even when they seem as unlikable as Kathleen. A beautiful tale, one that will stay in my thoughts for a very long time.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Moon Road, by Sarah Leipciger, is a beautifully written tale of love, loss, grief, and the renewal of old ties. It is, at times, poignant, heartbreaking, and hopeful. The story moves between present and past as we learn more about their early lives, about how the lack of resolution to Una’s story has affected them and coloured their lives. Kathleen, always head-strong has become a curmudgeon, rude, angry and seeming without empathy, indifferent to the needs of others, her only interest outside of Una’s disappearance, is her flower-growing business. Yannick has thrown himself into work, through several marriages producing several children but always unable to throw off the sorrow caused by Una’s disappearance and the inability to find closure. The tale is interspersed with chapters detailing the story of a young girl referred until the very end as ‘our girl’.
The pace here is slow but that isn’t a criticism. This is a quiet, almost contemplative tale. Leipciger’s beautiful, almost lyrical descriptions of Kathleen’s garden and the changing nature and vastness of Canada kept me enthralled partly, admittedly because I have made my own road trips across Canada and I know many of the places she references. I even enjoyed the humour expressed as Yannick sees the Wawa goose for the first time - it really is quite impressive.
But it is not just the descriptions of Canada’s beauty and changing landscapes that kept me engaged. Leipciger has an amazing ability to not only introduce her characters and to tell their stories but to bring us into their lives, to feel what they are feeling, to evoke empathy and acceptance of their failings even when they seem as unlikable as Kathleen. A beautiful tale, one that will stay in my thoughts for a very long time.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
September 12, 2024
Kathleen and Yannick—once married, later friends—had no contact for nearly 20 years, since their daughter, Una, disappeared while travelling through Canada’s Pacific Northwest… until 70-year-old Yannick showed up to ask Kathleen to drive out west with him. Bones had been dug up near Tofino, where Una was last seen, and blood tests from her parents could determine if they belonged to Una. They could have taken the test locally, but Yannick was desperate to get back out there, hoping to find something—anything—that might help to find her. Neither had ever lost hope she could still be alive.
Their road trip from Southwestern Ontario to Vancouver Island revealed a lot about the two adults. Both carried a good deal of baggage from childhood and relationships they’d had. The long trip west provided an enormous amount of time to think—too much, probably—and it made their days on the island fraught with fear, regrets, and too many memories.
The book had a profound effect on me. I had two older siblings—a brother, and a sister who is no longer with us. They both left home in their teens to travel and “find themselves”. My sister went east, to Britain; my brother went west, oddly enough, to Vancouver Island. Luckily, they eventually returned home, though my brother was away for several years. The book brought it all back to me, and got me thinking about how lucky we all had been. While away, my siblings took plenty of risks—some that could easily have taken their lives. The experience stayed with me all these years, and I expect this book will stay with me forever.
5 “You-can-always-go-home” stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Their road trip from Southwestern Ontario to Vancouver Island revealed a lot about the two adults. Both carried a good deal of baggage from childhood and relationships they’d had. The long trip west provided an enormous amount of time to think—too much, probably—and it made their days on the island fraught with fear, regrets, and too many memories.
The book had a profound effect on me. I had two older siblings—a brother, and a sister who is no longer with us. They both left home in their teens to travel and “find themselves”. My sister went east, to Britain; my brother went west, oddly enough, to Vancouver Island. Luckily, they eventually returned home, though my brother was away for several years. The book brought it all back to me, and got me thinking about how lucky we all had been. While away, my siblings took plenty of risks—some that could easily have taken their lives. The experience stayed with me all these years, and I expect this book will stay with me forever.
5 “You-can-always-go-home” stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
July 19, 2024
This was recommended to me as a book for fans of Strout and Kingsolver and so of course I was right in. It didn’t disappoint, Moon Road is one of my favourite books I’ve read this year. This story is told in a measured, dispassionate, observational tone which reminded me a lot of Strout’s writing in a good way. It’s about loss and hope, connection and disconnection in a marriage, and it’s one of those stories that just really gets people for all their flaws. Everything about it felt three dimensional and real. An excellent, compelling read.
April 14, 2024
This is the most beautiful, lyrical book about loss and hope. It's a brilliant evocation of a fractured family and the story of a marriage. The thread of the story is a long and uncomfortable road trip, but this is the vehicle that sets the histories of characters spool outwards in a very natural way. By the end, I felt as if I knew these people so well and I felt their heartaches. A book to savour and return to.
May 16, 2024
I had high hopes for Moon Road as I loved Sarah Leipciger's previous novel, Coming Up For Air.
Moon Road tells the story of Kathleen and Yannick, who have been married, but have not spoken to each other for 19 years since the disappearance of their daughter, Una. Now, they have received news from across the country (the book is set in Canada) that some bones have been found and a sample is required from Kathleen to test whether the bones belong to their daughter. Together, they decide to drive across the country to the site of where the bones were found.
I didn't find Kathleen a particularly likeable character but getting through each day of 19 years not knowing where your daughter is or what happened to her will take its toll on a person. She is short tempered, snappy and noone else can do anything right. Kathleen clearly resents Yannick for having married again and having had more children, particularly as he had another daughter, yet Kathleen has remained on her own. Though Kathleen and Yannick's relationship deteriorated, it is clearly impossible to break that link of what they have been through together. Over the course of their long journey, their relationship slowly builds again.
There are flashbacks to Kathleen's relationship with Una - was she a good mother? And when Una first disappears, we learn of the police investigation and Kathleen's obsession with one of Una's ex-boyfriends.
It's hard for me to write more as I don't want to spoil this brilliantly told story. I will just say that there is another narrative woven between Kathleen and Yannick's stories that hits a powerful punch.
This is a heart wrenching and emotional story, but Sarah writes it with such passion and sensitivity. A wonderful writer whose books will forever be on my radar.
Moon Road tells the story of Kathleen and Yannick, who have been married, but have not spoken to each other for 19 years since the disappearance of their daughter, Una. Now, they have received news from across the country (the book is set in Canada) that some bones have been found and a sample is required from Kathleen to test whether the bones belong to their daughter. Together, they decide to drive across the country to the site of where the bones were found.
I didn't find Kathleen a particularly likeable character but getting through each day of 19 years not knowing where your daughter is or what happened to her will take its toll on a person. She is short tempered, snappy and noone else can do anything right. Kathleen clearly resents Yannick for having married again and having had more children, particularly as he had another daughter, yet Kathleen has remained on her own. Though Kathleen and Yannick's relationship deteriorated, it is clearly impossible to break that link of what they have been through together. Over the course of their long journey, their relationship slowly builds again.
There are flashbacks to Kathleen's relationship with Una - was she a good mother? And when Una first disappears, we learn of the police investigation and Kathleen's obsession with one of Una's ex-boyfriends.
It's hard for me to write more as I don't want to spoil this brilliantly told story. I will just say that there is another narrative woven between Kathleen and Yannick's stories that hits a powerful punch.
This is a heart wrenching and emotional story, but Sarah writes it with such passion and sensitivity. A wonderful writer whose books will forever be on my radar.
November 24, 2024
A beautifully written, character-driven novel about an old divorced couple who take a road trip across Canada to try to trace their daughter who went missing decades before. This novel dealt with grief, healing, forgiving yourself and friendship really well. Sad, but heartwarming and not in a sugar-coated way. Lots of very realistic observations about relationships.
May 18, 2024
I received an ARC of this book via netgalley. Una , the daughter of Kaherine and Yannick disappeared some years ago. Now some human remains have been found. Yannik wants to travel to where their daughte disappeared but Katherine who is seperated from yannick initially feels that what needs to be done can be done from home. Eventually they set off together to find some resolution to their plight.
For me the narrative is under whelming. I feel like i have had to unearth the centrepiece of the narrative from the mass of other events.
The characterisation is not making me love / hate or even understand the main players and the whole things is just a bit flat
For me the narrative is under whelming. I feel like i have had to unearth the centrepiece of the narrative from the mass of other events.
The characterisation is not making me love / hate or even understand the main players and the whole things is just a bit flat
August 8, 2024
Gorgeous writing, and main characters that are having to deal with one of the worst tasks: carry on with life despite the fact that their daughter has disappeared and they don't know why, where and how. It's one of the best books about grief that I have ever read!
July 16, 2025
This beautifully observed novel is Canadian, and it seems particularly, quintessentially, Canadian to me—which of course is a good thing! (But you definitely don’t have to be Canadian to be deeply moved by this complex, resonant story.) A long-divorced couple set out in an aged pickup truck for a trip of several thousand kilometres from small-town Ontario to the west side of Vancouver Island in search of answers about their daughter, who seemingly vanished from the face of the earth out there several decades earlier. Along the way, we find out more about their backstory and the complicated web of relationships and the chain of events that have brought them to the present moment. The wonderfully realized character studies make these people come fully alive in a way I don’t often encounter while reading. Highly recommended.
March 7, 2025
March 2025 Book Club Selection: To be discussed 03.02.25
September 17, 2024
5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Just captivating.
Yannick and is ex-wife, Kathleen, have not spoken in 19 years, after a nasty falling out. They share a tragedy, their daughter, Una, has been missing for over 20 years. When they receive news that there are bones discovered on Vancouver Island, they embark on a Canadian road trip. Ontario to Vancouver Island, to give the RCMP their DNA to compare to the recovered bones.
The road trip is long but this allows their many emotions to rise up. Towards their daughter, each other and life in general. They review how they handled their lives post- Una. Yannick married a couple times and has 4 more children, Kathleen is bitter, polarizing and has isolated herself. They try everything to find their missing daughter, in their own individual ways.
This book could have been read in 24 hours, if I could have found more time in the days. I felt like a passenger on the road trip with them. Vivid descriptions of places that they passed by. The vastness of the living skies of the prairies, the mountains in Alberta, the peaty smell of the forest in Victoria Island.
The writing is real and poetic. A strong source of placement and atmosphere. Take this journey with them. It will be a top read of 2024 for me.
“He is impressed, if that is the right word, how quickly someone can go from being alive, to being dead, to becoming a memory. “
“Many years ago, Kathleen was told by a woman examining the mulchy tea leaves scattered in her empty cup that she would always be left by the people she loved. Kathleen didn’t believe in tea-leaf reading but she didn’t question the woman; neither did she ask her to elaborate. Kathleen knew what this tea-leaf reader meant, because she’s always known it herself: she is the one who stays behind.”
Sidenote: Ironically, the only time I ever went for a tea leaf reader was in Nanaimo, the same city as Kathleen’s tea leaf reading in the book.
Thankfully, my reading was much more positive. ✨
Just captivating.
Yannick and is ex-wife, Kathleen, have not spoken in 19 years, after a nasty falling out. They share a tragedy, their daughter, Una, has been missing for over 20 years. When they receive news that there are bones discovered on Vancouver Island, they embark on a Canadian road trip. Ontario to Vancouver Island, to give the RCMP their DNA to compare to the recovered bones.
The road trip is long but this allows their many emotions to rise up. Towards their daughter, each other and life in general. They review how they handled their lives post- Una. Yannick married a couple times and has 4 more children, Kathleen is bitter, polarizing and has isolated herself. They try everything to find their missing daughter, in their own individual ways.
This book could have been read in 24 hours, if I could have found more time in the days. I felt like a passenger on the road trip with them. Vivid descriptions of places that they passed by. The vastness of the living skies of the prairies, the mountains in Alberta, the peaty smell of the forest in Victoria Island.
The writing is real and poetic. A strong source of placement and atmosphere. Take this journey with them. It will be a top read of 2024 for me.
“He is impressed, if that is the right word, how quickly someone can go from being alive, to being dead, to becoming a memory. “
“Many years ago, Kathleen was told by a woman examining the mulchy tea leaves scattered in her empty cup that she would always be left by the people she loved. Kathleen didn’t believe in tea-leaf reading but she didn’t question the woman; neither did she ask her to elaborate. Kathleen knew what this tea-leaf reader meant, because she’s always known it herself: she is the one who stays behind.”
Sidenote: Ironically, the only time I ever went for a tea leaf reader was in Nanaimo, the same city as Kathleen’s tea leaf reading in the book.
Thankfully, my reading was much more positive. ✨
October 2, 2024
I read it quickly to find out the mystery. I thought there was some parts that could have been omitted.
I expected more about certain parts that I thought could have been more detailed. The ending left me feeling like "what was the point"
I expected more about certain parts that I thought could have been more detailed. The ending left me feeling like "what was the point"
December 13, 2024
A beautiful, yet palatable story of heavy, quiet grief. The setting is a drive from Ontario to BC and Leipciger skillfully creates an immersive experience with descriptions of barns being “more peel than paint,” grain elevators on the verge of buckling “under unfathomable weight” of empty skies, and a lake so calm it resembles thick, warm milk. You can feel the vastness of the fields and skies of the prairies, the surge and pull and infiniteness of the Pacific ocean, the depth and range of grief. Kathleen and Yannick’s characters bring humour and are so lovely and tough. Such good writing. Is a bit sad but still so worth it.
January 6, 2025
Truly a great read! I felt like I too was on this road trip from Ontario to Vancouver Island with Kathleen and Yannick—that’s how vivid the descriptions were. The storytelling was so immersive that I couldn’t put this book down. The journey, the landscapes, and the characters came alive with every page.
January 15, 2025
Moon Road by Sarah Leipciger is a powerful and heartbreaking character-driven novel featuring the grief and reconciliation of a divorced couple longing for answers.
Tragically, this is an all too familiar and realistic story of a young Canadian girl who goes missing. Her parents, remaining undeterred, are desperate for an explanation even after more than 7000 days since her disappearance. Frantic for answers, Kathleen and Yannick set off from Ontario to Vancouver Island in hopes that recently unearthed remains belong to their child.
While this is a book rooted in grief, it is also a story of re-connection; if wrapped in a bow, that bow would be comprised of healing fabric, as both Kathleen and Yannick come to their own individual resolve by the end of the novel. At the same time, this is also a love story to Canada; from the Northern Shield and Great Lakes, to the vast open prairies and meandering coulees, to the Rocky Mountains and unrelenting shores of the Pacific Ocean - Leipciger paints Canada as the beautiful and diverse country it is.
(Spoiler ahead) As the ending drew nearer, I was desperate for a conclusion. The reader is provided one that is incredibly heartbreaking, but even more devastating is that both Kathleen and Yannick never receive the same answer.
Beautifully written, this is one story that won't soon be forgotten.
Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Viking for the complimentary copy tor read and review.
Tragically, this is an all too familiar and realistic story of a young Canadian girl who goes missing. Her parents, remaining undeterred, are desperate for an explanation even after more than 7000 days since her disappearance. Frantic for answers, Kathleen and Yannick set off from Ontario to Vancouver Island in hopes that recently unearthed remains belong to their child.
While this is a book rooted in grief, it is also a story of re-connection; if wrapped in a bow, that bow would be comprised of healing fabric, as both Kathleen and Yannick come to their own individual resolve by the end of the novel. At the same time, this is also a love story to Canada; from the Northern Shield and Great Lakes, to the vast open prairies and meandering coulees, to the Rocky Mountains and unrelenting shores of the Pacific Ocean - Leipciger paints Canada as the beautiful and diverse country it is.
(Spoiler ahead) As the ending drew nearer, I was desperate for a conclusion. The reader is provided one that is incredibly heartbreaking, but even more devastating is that both Kathleen and Yannick never receive the same answer.
Beautifully written, this is one story that won't soon be forgotten.
Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Viking for the complimentary copy tor read and review.
January 25, 2025
After years of wondering where their missing daughter is, or what may have happened to her, an estranged divorced couple come together to attempt to have some questions answered. They travel across Canada on a road trip to the location their daughter disappeared. I was impressed with this book for many reasons. I loved that it was Canadian and I could visualize much of the imagery. The manner of speech was familiar. I found the expression of emotion so well done that I felt myself understanding these parents, and relating to them in these unimaginable circumstances. Highly recommend!
February 9, 2025
Loved this book. Loved how it was written so personal, like a friend telling you a story using words so casual that made me laugh out loud like "having the shits". I listened to half of it on audiobook which was really well done too.
April 9, 2025
An estranged couple come together twenty years after their daughter went missing. Bones found on the opposite of Canada see them set out on the road trip that is the background of this novel.
A slow character driven novel that I had mixed feelings about. There is some beautiful writing, fantastic descriptions, but also some frustrating he says, she says dialogue. There were sections I loved, but others that resulted in me putting the book down and not returning to it for days. Perhaps if I had of read it more solidly I would have enjoyed it more, got more from it?
A slow character driven novel that I had mixed feelings about. There is some beautiful writing, fantastic descriptions, but also some frustrating he says, she says dialogue. There were sections I loved, but others that resulted in me putting the book down and not returning to it for days. Perhaps if I had of read it more solidly I would have enjoyed it more, got more from it?
May 30, 2025
Ik kwam er gewoon niet in
September 16, 2024
A stunning portrait of a family deeply affected by grief.
Yannick and Kathleen, once married, once friends, always parents to their daughter Una who has been missing for 19 years. A recent discovery of bones near Una’s last known whereabouts has brought the two back together. Old wounds are opened, the steady grief beneath the surface is bubbling, and they are hitting the road to hopefully finally have the answers they’ve yearned for all these years.
Leipciger writes in the same style as some of my favourite authors, O’Farrell, Kingsolver, Fuller, with a deep sense of empathy and a knack for the immersive. When you dip into this book you are aware of all your senses, you are in the shoes of our characters, viewing the landscapes, going through the motions of their lives, and somehow you are also looking in as a stranger and drawn into the internal mystery. This is magic.
We follow Yannick and Kathleen as they hit Moon Road from Ontario to British Columbia, but this is also a journey that has been made before, when Una first went missing and as we navigate the present we are thrown into the past. With glimpses of Una’s point of view, blended with past caveats and our present journey you are mesmerized and affected deeply; whether you are a parent or not this story is engrossing enough that you do not need to relate to the heavy grief and hope of our characters, these are some of our purest emotions as humans and Liepciger delivers and emotes these with precision and subtlety.
A book I will not soon forget.
February 10, 2024
One of those books that could break you a little.
The trauma and the grief, the loss and not knowing what happened to your child for twenty years... honestly, I was desperate enough just to get to the end of the book to find out.
Two incredible main characters, so different, dealing with things their own way.
A stunner.
The trauma and the grief, the loss and not knowing what happened to your child for twenty years... honestly, I was desperate enough just to get to the end of the book to find out.
Two incredible main characters, so different, dealing with things their own way.
A stunner.
September 1, 2024
Deeply unlikeable main character (Kathleen) who was impossible to root for, followed by a series of events where nothing really happened. All of it so anticlimactic. Could have easily been 100 less pages.
September 28, 2024
This book will not be for everyone. But in the hands of the right reader, it will be an achingly beautiful, tender journey. I am so glad to have found this book, and I feel it will stay with me for some time.
October 4, 2024
A very haunting read as a parent. I feel like if you liked where the crawdads sing you will like this read. The plot had you captured right up until the last page. So cool that it’s based in Canada and by a Canadian author. The enduring relationship of Kathleen and Yannick had your heart just rooting for them to find Una (and hoping that they rekindle a relationship and get back together). Everything about this book was well done!
September 9, 2024
What is it to live with never ending grief? And is closure really best if it means unbearable finality, and the end of hope? I don't know if these are the questions SL wants us to consider but it's what I wondered. The writing was terrific, sometimes spare, often poetic. And the shift from the present to the past felt exactly right for a story like this, because in grappling with loss there is a lot of reliving the past.
January 1, 2025
Solid 3.75 - some beautiful writing, at times. And other times it goes on a bit too much.
“He was impressed, if that is the right word, by how rapidly a person can go from being alive to being dead to being a memory. Even before the elevator doors opened to take him and his father to the ground floor, his mother was
a memory.”
“He was impressed, if that is the right word, by how rapidly a person can go from being alive to being dead to being a memory. Even before the elevator doors opened to take him and his father to the ground floor, his mother was
a memory.”
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