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Old Newgate Road
Old Newgate Road runs through the tobacco fields of northern Connecticut that once drove the local economy. It’s where Cole Callahan spent his youth, in a historic white colonial in which he hasn’t set foot in thirty years—not since he was a teenager, when one night his father murdered his mother in a fit of rage. Now Cole has returned to discover his elderly father, freed from prison, living alone in their old home and succumbing to dementia.
Matters grow even more complicated when Cole’s rabble-rousing son Daniel is expelled from high school. So Cole summons Daniel to Connecticut to work in the tobacco fields—Cole’s own job growing up. Forced together, these three generations of men must contend with the sinister history they share—and desperately try to invent a future that isn’t doomed by it.
Matters grow even more complicated when Cole’s rabble-rousing son Daniel is expelled from high school. So Cole summons Daniel to Connecticut to work in the tobacco fields—Cole’s own job growing up. Forced together, these three generations of men must contend with the sinister history they share—and desperately try to invent a future that isn’t doomed by it.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 8, 2019
14 people are currently reading
1576 people want to read
About the author
Keith Scribner
5 books49 followersKeith Scribner’s fourth novel, Old Newgate Road, will be released by Alfred A. Knopf (Penguin Random House) on January 8, 2019. His three previous novels are The Oregon Experiment, Miracle Girl, and The GoodLife, which was selected for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers series, and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Daily Beast, TriQuarterly, American Short Fiction, Quarterly West, The North Atlantic Review, the San Jose Mercury News, the Baltimore Sun, and the anthologies Flash Fiction Forward (W.W. Norton) and Sudden Stories: The MAMMOTH Book of Miniscule Fiction. He received both Pushcart and O’Henry Prize Honorable Mentions for his short story, “Paradise in a Cup” (TriQuarterly, #121).
Scribner received his BA from Vassar College and MFA from the University of Montana. He was awarded Wallace Stegner and John L’Heureux Fellowships in Fiction at Stanford University, where he went on to teach in the Creative Writing Program as a Jones Lecturer. He currently lives in Oregon with his wife, the poet Jennifer Richter, and their children. He teaches in Oregon State University’s MFA program.
His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Daily Beast, TriQuarterly, American Short Fiction, Quarterly West, The North Atlantic Review, the San Jose Mercury News, the Baltimore Sun, and the anthologies Flash Fiction Forward (W.W. Norton) and Sudden Stories: The MAMMOTH Book of Miniscule Fiction. He received both Pushcart and O’Henry Prize Honorable Mentions for his short story, “Paradise in a Cup” (TriQuarterly, #121).
Scribner received his BA from Vassar College and MFA from the University of Montana. He was awarded Wallace Stegner and John L’Heureux Fellowships in Fiction at Stanford University, where he went on to teach in the Creative Writing Program as a Jones Lecturer. He currently lives in Oregon with his wife, the poet Jennifer Richter, and their children. He teaches in Oregon State University’s MFA program.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 9, 2019
3.5 stars Thank you to Penguin's First to Read and Knopf Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Published Jan 8, 2019
This is one of the better novels I have read that relates to men. A story of three generations, son, father and grandfather, all different. But all still trying to move through the guilt of the past.
Although I thought that this book started off a bit slow, it took no time to become involved in the lives of these three men. Phil, the grandfather, released from prison, squatting at the old homestead and trying to fight off Alzheimers. Cole, the main character, home to help his father and try to rebuild the old colonial house. And Daniel, sent to this tobacco producing farmland for the summer, to keep him out of trouble. Each one as different as night and day, yet bound together by stories from the past.
This is my first book by Keith Scribner. It was a good introduction to an author that I intend to read again. His story was easy to read, kept me involved, and showed the comparisons and contrasts between not only generations from the same family, but also with other families of men from that same time frame and geographical area, detailing how our past can predict our future, but also direct our dreams.
This is one of the better novels I have read that relates to men. A story of three generations, son, father and grandfather, all different. But all still trying to move through the guilt of the past.
Although I thought that this book started off a bit slow, it took no time to become involved in the lives of these three men. Phil, the grandfather, released from prison, squatting at the old homestead and trying to fight off Alzheimers. Cole, the main character, home to help his father and try to rebuild the old colonial house. And Daniel, sent to this tobacco producing farmland for the summer, to keep him out of trouble. Each one as different as night and day, yet bound together by stories from the past.
This is my first book by Keith Scribner. It was a good introduction to an author that I intend to read again. His story was easy to read, kept me involved, and showed the comparisons and contrasts between not only generations from the same family, but also with other families of men from that same time frame and geographical area, detailing how our past can predict our future, but also direct our dreams.
August 3, 2019
I fucking love this book. I received an advance reader’s copy free courtesy of Net Galley and Doubleday, and I am late with my review, but it’s not too late for you. This dark, brooding tale of family secrets that intertwine with the present is both a literary gem and a deeply absorbing read. It’s for sale now.
Cole owns a construction business in the Pacific Northwest, but he returns to his childhood home on a mission to purchase some wood, a hard-to-find variety of chestnut. He hasn’t been back in thirty years, but now he is mature and ready to face the old house, or so he thinks. It’s the first time he’s been to his family’s Connecticut home since it happened. The family’s historical colonial home is located on Old Newgate Road, which leads to Old Newgate Prison; the way that he recalls that his parents posed and made much of this place and then the way that they treated each other and their children are juxtaposed in a way that I find absolutely believable.
There is a host of ominous foreshadowing, and the events of the past are revealed a layer at a time, like an onion, and the way Scribner uses them in developing his protagonist is brilliant. Each time that I think I see something in Cole’s behavior that doesn’t make sense, it comes up later and turns out to be an intentionally included inconsistency related to the character’s inner struggle. And right now I feel as if I am making this thing sound so dull—struggle, development, blah blah blah—but I am not providing specific information the way I ordinarily would because it would be a disservice to even reveal what we are told at the ten percent mark, or the twenty.
I read a few negative early reviews, and I suspect these are due to the unfortunate tendency to overuse specialized terms used mostly by architects and builders. Perhaps the aim was to make us believe that Cole knows his field, or maybe it’s a part of the setting. One way or the other, the author has gotten carried away with it, but the reader that soldiers through that junk at the outset can expect to see much less of it during the great majority of the book. I read it digitally and occasionally ran a search as I was reading, but if any of these terms is useful in understanding the book, then I am too shallow to see it. You can safely skip over them if you want to do so, and you will be none the poorer for it.
The best lines of the story go to Cole’s adolescent son, Daniel, a social justice warrior who gets into trouble at school when he pushes boundaries; Cole brings him to Connecticut to work the fields as he himself did in his teens, and this is when the story starts to hop. I spent my career teaching adolescents, and over the years I had five of them at home. If there were a weak point in Scribner’s construction of Daniel, I would see it (as several other unfortunate authors can attest.) Daniel is bright, insightful, and rebellious, and everything he says and everything he does builds a credible character. By the halfway mark, my notes are written to the protagonist rather than to myself, the publisher or the author; I’m watching this kid and telling Cole to listen to him. Daniel is almost a prophet, and he’s almost a one person Greek chorus, but he is still always, always a kid, impulsive, full of passion, and unafraid to say what he sees, what he thinks, and what he knows. If I were to make a short list of my favorite fictional teenagers, Daniel would be on it.
That being said, this story calls for at least a high school literacy level, even if you skip the architectural and woodworking terms. Because of the many memories that flood in when Cole returns home, I suspect that those of us that came of age in the 1970s (give or take) may enjoy it most; however, for younger readers it may have a bit of a noir flavor.
Highly recommended.
Cole owns a construction business in the Pacific Northwest, but he returns to his childhood home on a mission to purchase some wood, a hard-to-find variety of chestnut. He hasn’t been back in thirty years, but now he is mature and ready to face the old house, or so he thinks. It’s the first time he’s been to his family’s Connecticut home since it happened. The family’s historical colonial home is located on Old Newgate Road, which leads to Old Newgate Prison; the way that he recalls that his parents posed and made much of this place and then the way that they treated each other and their children are juxtaposed in a way that I find absolutely believable.
There is a host of ominous foreshadowing, and the events of the past are revealed a layer at a time, like an onion, and the way Scribner uses them in developing his protagonist is brilliant. Each time that I think I see something in Cole’s behavior that doesn’t make sense, it comes up later and turns out to be an intentionally included inconsistency related to the character’s inner struggle. And right now I feel as if I am making this thing sound so dull—struggle, development, blah blah blah—but I am not providing specific information the way I ordinarily would because it would be a disservice to even reveal what we are told at the ten percent mark, or the twenty.
I read a few negative early reviews, and I suspect these are due to the unfortunate tendency to overuse specialized terms used mostly by architects and builders. Perhaps the aim was to make us believe that Cole knows his field, or maybe it’s a part of the setting. One way or the other, the author has gotten carried away with it, but the reader that soldiers through that junk at the outset can expect to see much less of it during the great majority of the book. I read it digitally and occasionally ran a search as I was reading, but if any of these terms is useful in understanding the book, then I am too shallow to see it. You can safely skip over them if you want to do so, and you will be none the poorer for it.
The best lines of the story go to Cole’s adolescent son, Daniel, a social justice warrior who gets into trouble at school when he pushes boundaries; Cole brings him to Connecticut to work the fields as he himself did in his teens, and this is when the story starts to hop. I spent my career teaching adolescents, and over the years I had five of them at home. If there were a weak point in Scribner’s construction of Daniel, I would see it (as several other unfortunate authors can attest.) Daniel is bright, insightful, and rebellious, and everything he says and everything he does builds a credible character. By the halfway mark, my notes are written to the protagonist rather than to myself, the publisher or the author; I’m watching this kid and telling Cole to listen to him. Daniel is almost a prophet, and he’s almost a one person Greek chorus, but he is still always, always a kid, impulsive, full of passion, and unafraid to say what he sees, what he thinks, and what he knows. If I were to make a short list of my favorite fictional teenagers, Daniel would be on it.
That being said, this story calls for at least a high school literacy level, even if you skip the architectural and woodworking terms. Because of the many memories that flood in when Cole returns home, I suspect that those of us that came of age in the 1970s (give or take) may enjoy it most; however, for younger readers it may have a bit of a noir flavor.
Highly recommended.
December 27, 2018
Cole Callahan is returning to his home town after thirty years. He needs some chestnut wood from an old tobacco shed they’re tearing down there to use in his home restoration business. He hasn’t been back since his father killed his mother in an angry rage. When he stops by the old house, he couldn’t be more surprised to find his elderly father living there. His father, Phil, has been released from prison and has returned home. Phil is showing signs of dementia so Cole feels obligated to stay and help him out for a while. He’s also avoiding some problems at home. He and his wife, Nikki, have separated and his son, Daniel, has become a dedicated freegan but keeps running into problems with school and the police due to his high principles.
This is a very dark, deep, layered book about abuse in a dysfunctional family and how that abuse continued to work its evil in the lives of those who had previously endured it. There’s a lot going on in the plotline of this book but it never gets confusing or muddled. The only reason why I’m not giving this one 5 stars is that I had quite a bit of trouble understanding the touching scenes between Cole and his father and the affection and care he sometimes showed his father. This is the man who killed his mother and who made his children’s lives miserable before that. These scenes seemed to conflict with other things that were said in the book, how much Cole hated his father and never got over the death of his mother. But I guess family is family, plus Cole was dealing with so much guilt that he wasn’t able to save his mother, which would cause conflicting feelings in him.
Memorable story of a haunted family. Recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
This is a very dark, deep, layered book about abuse in a dysfunctional family and how that abuse continued to work its evil in the lives of those who had previously endured it. There’s a lot going on in the plotline of this book but it never gets confusing or muddled. The only reason why I’m not giving this one 5 stars is that I had quite a bit of trouble understanding the touching scenes between Cole and his father and the affection and care he sometimes showed his father. This is the man who killed his mother and who made his children’s lives miserable before that. These scenes seemed to conflict with other things that were said in the book, how much Cole hated his father and never got over the death of his mother. But I guess family is family, plus Cole was dealing with so much guilt that he wasn’t able to save his mother, which would cause conflicting feelings in him.
Memorable story of a haunted family. Recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
December 18, 2018
Cole Callahan grew up in Connecticut, working summers in the tobacco fields and spending every spare minute with his girlfriend, Liz. It sounds like your typical and idyllic high school existence, except for one difference; his parents fight constantly and in one final fight his father kills Cole’s mother. Fast forward to current day. Cole is living on the West Coast and separated from his wife. An architect and builder, he’s returned to Connecticut and his hometown to pick up some lumber for a renovation. In doing so, he also returns to his past, meeting up with his former girlfriend, her brother, the town bully, and his father, showing signs of dementia, who’s been released from prison and is living in their former home. Thrown into the mix is Daniel, Cole’s son, who’s been suspended from school and joins his father, who hopes to reach him in some way. Could there be a bigger recipe for disaster? While there are disasters in Old Newgate Road, there are successes and for me the best is when Cole reflects on forgiveness and determines that “...forgiveness doesn’t happen in an instant – it’s not a simple decision, but an accumulation of generous acts, of kindness and taking care. He’s stayed on because this summer is what forgiveness looks like.” It takes a while for Cole to reach this epiphany, but he does and it’s worth the wait. Old Newgate Road is a good book and I’d recommend it.
February 15, 2023
When I first picked up this novel I read some hundred pages without a break. It felt similar in mastery to John Boyne’s The Heart’s Invisible Furies, which should be taken as a high compliment. The story was vivid and ever so tense with such depth to the characters one would think it was all of it true. From the smell of the tobacco leaves in the humid heat to the constant flow of haunting memories, it is all solid proof of Keith Scribner’s prowess in prose.
Cole Callahan is an architect, namely in restoration, who jumps a plane to his hometown to oversee the dismantling of a shed on a tobacco farm built from old priceless wood which he intends to use in the remodeling of his house back in Oregon. Right from the start traumatic and nostalgic memories of his childhood pervade his thoughts; his high-principled son is getting into trouble at home; and worse, he finds his father, not long out of prison, squatting in his childhood home. Cole ends up extending his stay for the summer and flies his son out to do some bit of hard work in the sun, hoping he shape up.
Old Newgate Road is an impressive story about various forms of abuse and violence, shortcomings of growing up in a hodunk tobacco town, and a desperate search for forgiveness. Scribner effortlessly transitions from the protagonist’s present and past lives which mirrors well how we so easily become preoccupied with our own wandering thoughts.
With yet another showcase from Knopf publishing, I was very impressed by Keith Scribner and will be looking forward to reading more from him. Say, 4/5.
Thanks, and keep them coming, Keith Scribner.
Read to read,
Your novel nerd.
Cole Callahan is an architect, namely in restoration, who jumps a plane to his hometown to oversee the dismantling of a shed on a tobacco farm built from old priceless wood which he intends to use in the remodeling of his house back in Oregon. Right from the start traumatic and nostalgic memories of his childhood pervade his thoughts; his high-principled son is getting into trouble at home; and worse, he finds his father, not long out of prison, squatting in his childhood home. Cole ends up extending his stay for the summer and flies his son out to do some bit of hard work in the sun, hoping he shape up.
Old Newgate Road is an impressive story about various forms of abuse and violence, shortcomings of growing up in a hodunk tobacco town, and a desperate search for forgiveness. Scribner effortlessly transitions from the protagonist’s present and past lives which mirrors well how we so easily become preoccupied with our own wandering thoughts.
With yet another showcase from Knopf publishing, I was very impressed by Keith Scribner and will be looking forward to reading more from him. Say, 4/5.
Thanks, and keep them coming, Keith Scribner.
Read to read,
Your novel nerd.
April 1, 2019
Old Newgate Rd is a street connected to Memory Lane
I grew up in Suffield and spent considerable time on Newgate Rd as well as in the tobacco fields throughout my high school years. This work of fiction brought back real life happy memories but then threw in the storyline so different from my own youth. It was a great experience to have the story come to life with the landmark that are so real to me.
I was sad to have this book end but was pleased with the ending, as I felt I really knew these characters.
I grew up in Suffield and spent considerable time on Newgate Rd as well as in the tobacco fields throughout my high school years. This work of fiction brought back real life happy memories but then threw in the storyline so different from my own youth. It was a great experience to have the story come to life with the landmark that are so real to me.
I was sad to have this book end but was pleased with the ending, as I felt I really knew these characters.
December 28, 2018
Amazing writing. The author truly masters his craft. Will be quickly purchasing others by him.
April 6, 2019
Publication Info: Published January 8th 2019 by Knopf Publishing Group. Pre-pub e-book edition provided by NetGalley. Other editions available since publication.
Summary: Cole Callahan, a successful home restorer, travels from his home in Portland back to his hometown in East Granby, Connecticut. He's convinced himself he is just there for five days to observe the dismantling of an old tobacco shed. He wants to use the wood for an addition onto his own house in Portland.
Cole hasn't been back to Granby since his father murdered his mother in one of his frequent rages. As Cole checks out his old home, a disintegrating Colonial, he hears piano music coming from inside the house. He is shocked to discover his father, now out of prison, living there. The home, perpetually under reconstruction during his childhood, is in deplorable condition. He soon discovers that his father is also disintegrating into senility.
Meanwhile, Cole's marriage is falling apart and his son, Daniel, is in danger of being expelled from school for breaking the law while protesting against food waste. Cole decides that the best thing for Daniel would be a summer of working in the tobacco fields, like he did as a boy. But as the summer progresses and he is forced to take a good hard look at his family's history, he learns lessons not only from the men in his past, but also from the one of his future--his son.
Comments: Cole narrates this story in both the present and in large memory chunks of the past. As he describes his father's rage and violence, he also says he once believed that all men beat their wives, based on what he saw in his friends' families. And that is the core of this novel--the cycle of violence that is passed down from generation to generation.
Scribner is a good writer, but his was not an easy novel to read emotionally. Not only are the men implicated but the women as well--by their expectations of what it means to "be a man" as well as by their silence. I was a victim of domestic violence in my first marriage and witnessed the effects of just the kind of multi-generational behavior patterns he describes in Old Newgate Road. But this is not a completely gloomy book. Lessons are learned -- and in at least in Daniel, there is hope for the future.
I'm not sure who to recommend this book to -- maybe book clubs who want something meatier than the usual fluffy female fare (this book is chock full of discussion topics).
I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Summary: Cole Callahan, a successful home restorer, travels from his home in Portland back to his hometown in East Granby, Connecticut. He's convinced himself he is just there for five days to observe the dismantling of an old tobacco shed. He wants to use the wood for an addition onto his own house in Portland.
Cole hasn't been back to Granby since his father murdered his mother in one of his frequent rages. As Cole checks out his old home, a disintegrating Colonial, he hears piano music coming from inside the house. He is shocked to discover his father, now out of prison, living there. The home, perpetually under reconstruction during his childhood, is in deplorable condition. He soon discovers that his father is also disintegrating into senility.
Meanwhile, Cole's marriage is falling apart and his son, Daniel, is in danger of being expelled from school for breaking the law while protesting against food waste. Cole decides that the best thing for Daniel would be a summer of working in the tobacco fields, like he did as a boy. But as the summer progresses and he is forced to take a good hard look at his family's history, he learns lessons not only from the men in his past, but also from the one of his future--his son.
Comments: Cole narrates this story in both the present and in large memory chunks of the past. As he describes his father's rage and violence, he also says he once believed that all men beat their wives, based on what he saw in his friends' families. And that is the core of this novel--the cycle of violence that is passed down from generation to generation.
Scribner is a good writer, but his was not an easy novel to read emotionally. Not only are the men implicated but the women as well--by their expectations of what it means to "be a man" as well as by their silence. I was a victim of domestic violence in my first marriage and witnessed the effects of just the kind of multi-generational behavior patterns he describes in Old Newgate Road. But this is not a completely gloomy book. Lessons are learned -- and in at least in Daniel, there is hope for the future.
I'm not sure who to recommend this book to -- maybe book clubs who want something meatier than the usual fluffy female fare (this book is chock full of discussion topics).
I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Realistic Fiction
January 15, 2019
This was one of those books I really had to push myself to finish. At many points I thought maybe I should DNF it, but something kept telling me to power through. I love Scribner's writing style. He is somehow both concise and descriptive in the way he presents his environment. However, this novel did not leave any sort of impact on me. I imagine I will look back on it and think, "I know I read this novel, but I just can't remember anything about it."
Old Newgate Road tells the story of Cole Callahan, a wood worker who returns to his childhood home for some material to use in his construction business. He has not been back in thirty years, not since the tragedy that tore his family apart. What is supposed to be a quick trip quickly turns much more complicated. He discovers his father is currently residing in the home and is suffering from dementia. He finds his father needed a great deal of care and has no one to turn to. On top of this, his 15 year old son Daniel is getting into trouble, and as a way to keep him out of trouble, he brings him up to Newgate Road. As the novel progresses, time flips back and forth between past and present, and we see all the demons Cole has attempted to bury.
A large part of why I struggled with this novel is because the construction and woodworking angle could not hold my interest. Someone with more experience in that business I'm certain will enjoy it much more. I also had a difficult time connecting to any of the characters and found the timeline to be a bit choppy. I LOVE the cover, but it did lead me to believe the novel would be a bit darker than it was.
If Daniel had a larger part in the novel I also think I would have liked it more. He gets into trouble because he is always trying to do the right thing and refuses to accept a broken system. He gets arrested because he breaks into a Safeway dumpster in order give the food waste to people who need it.
This may not have been the book for me, but I think it is still very well written and will be better received among people who can connect with the characters and atmosphere.
Old Newgate Road tells the story of Cole Callahan, a wood worker who returns to his childhood home for some material to use in his construction business. He has not been back in thirty years, not since the tragedy that tore his family apart. What is supposed to be a quick trip quickly turns much more complicated. He discovers his father is currently residing in the home and is suffering from dementia. He finds his father needed a great deal of care and has no one to turn to. On top of this, his 15 year old son Daniel is getting into trouble, and as a way to keep him out of trouble, he brings him up to Newgate Road. As the novel progresses, time flips back and forth between past and present, and we see all the demons Cole has attempted to bury.
A large part of why I struggled with this novel is because the construction and woodworking angle could not hold my interest. Someone with more experience in that business I'm certain will enjoy it much more. I also had a difficult time connecting to any of the characters and found the timeline to be a bit choppy. I LOVE the cover, but it did lead me to believe the novel would be a bit darker than it was.
If Daniel had a larger part in the novel I also think I would have liked it more. He gets into trouble because he is always trying to do the right thing and refuses to accept a broken system. He gets arrested because he breaks into a Safeway dumpster in order give the food waste to people who need it.
This may not have been the book for me, but I think it is still very well written and will be better received among people who can connect with the characters and atmosphere.
January 3, 2019
Thank you FTR and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is fast paced, a thriller, and yet with family and love woven in the story. How do you forgive the unforgivable?
Cole Callahan has witnessed violence while at home as a child. When he returns to his hometown years later, he sees his father inhabiting their abandoned old house, in a state of dementia. How does Cole move forward, caring for his father while holding on to his past, is at the center of this story, His present, his marriage and his child, is also marred by his past experiences. His present and past intertwine to create good story. While better writing could have uplifted the book, the story itself has good angles and plot turns to keep it interesting.
3.5 stars.
This book is fast paced, a thriller, and yet with family and love woven in the story. How do you forgive the unforgivable?
Cole Callahan has witnessed violence while at home as a child. When he returns to his hometown years later, he sees his father inhabiting their abandoned old house, in a state of dementia. How does Cole move forward, caring for his father while holding on to his past, is at the center of this story, His present, his marriage and his child, is also marred by his past experiences. His present and past intertwine to create good story. While better writing could have uplifted the book, the story itself has good angles and plot turns to keep it interesting.
3.5 stars.
March 10, 2019
A glance at the long list of acknowledgments quickly establishes the reason "Old Newgate Road" fails as a narrative. It would better be written as a sociological treatise on toxic masculinity, a popular topic on campus. But writers with an MFA credential in order to stay on campus must feel obligated to "workshop" a novel by having as many people as possible -- especially colleagues -- comment on the manuscript before publication. After all, Oregon State funded Scribner to write "Old Newgate Road," and the university expects a return on its money by allegedly productive senior faculty, and MFA programs that graduate Scribner's ilk operate on the group writing model of pseudo-creativity. He has to set an example for his students.
May 29, 2019
Really well written and very compelling. An exploration of masculinity, violence, and the way the subconscious can steer us toward ultimately acquiring that ever-elusive redemption we’ve been hoping to find for decades....
The book meanders in the middle (the ‘muddle’, as it’s known amongst writers) and loses tension in places where it may have behooved the book to ratchet it up somewhat, but in the end, it’s a very satisfying read.
The protagonist makes an interesting journey: from passive-aggressive, to aggressively-passive, and finally to a place of owning his convictions and living out his truths. Intriguing reveals arrive following the book’s climax in the final third. And those reveals helped me to understand and appreciate the character better; there were things about him that puzzled me in the beginning.
The young son, Daniel, is captured with humor, astuteness, and heroism. It’s not easy to nail down a Millenial. Scribner manages it beautifully.
The father, Phil, is both terrifying and heartbreaking throughout. Another impressive feat by the author.
My one major complaint would be the book's lack of responsibility from a social-justice POV: the overwhelming anger and rage issues that run rampant in the DNA of the men of this family are not explored in a way that makes it clear to anyone suffering from the issue that help is available and that all the violence against women depicted in this book can be spared. Phil goes to jail, yes, but we never know what it was like for him. Is he sorry? Did he change? When Cole returns home and discovers his father in the childhood family home like some ghostly transient, he kinda gets off the hook for the whole thing, because of his dementia. It bothered me.
The book meanders in the middle (the ‘muddle’, as it’s known amongst writers) and loses tension in places where it may have behooved the book to ratchet it up somewhat, but in the end, it’s a very satisfying read.
The protagonist makes an interesting journey: from passive-aggressive, to aggressively-passive, and finally to a place of owning his convictions and living out his truths. Intriguing reveals arrive following the book’s climax in the final third. And those reveals helped me to understand and appreciate the character better; there were things about him that puzzled me in the beginning.
The young son, Daniel, is captured with humor, astuteness, and heroism. It’s not easy to nail down a Millenial. Scribner manages it beautifully.
The father, Phil, is both terrifying and heartbreaking throughout. Another impressive feat by the author.
My one major complaint would be the book's lack of responsibility from a social-justice POV: the overwhelming anger and rage issues that run rampant in the DNA of the men of this family are not explored in a way that makes it clear to anyone suffering from the issue that help is available and that all the violence against women depicted in this book can be spared. Phil goes to jail, yes, but we never know what it was like for him. Is he sorry? Did he change? When Cole returns home and discovers his father in the childhood family home like some ghostly transient, he kinda gets off the hook for the whole thing, because of his dementia. It bothered me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2019
I wanted to like this book. The blurb was so intriguing. What should have been an easy, enjoyable read – it was only 312 pages - turned into a slumbering, tough-to-get-through exercise. Maybe it was because the main character was seeking to forgive his father for an unforgivable act. Maybe it was because the author totally abandoned two of the book’s first main support characters for no obvious reason. Maybe it was because I kept thinking to myself “get some help” so very often.
This book had so much potential but I feel like many key moments were either glossed over too quickly or not fully fleshed out. This easily could have been a 500-page book with real deep characters, interactions and a message. Instead, it felt rushed and forced. The back and forth from past to present gave the book an interesting progression but there were many doors that were opened that were never closed or revisited.
I received an electronic version of this book from www.firsttoread.com in exchange for an honest review.
This book had so much potential but I feel like many key moments were either glossed over too quickly or not fully fleshed out. This easily could have been a 500-page book with real deep characters, interactions and a message. Instead, it felt rushed and forced. The back and forth from past to present gave the book an interesting progression but there were many doors that were opened that were never closed or revisited.
I received an electronic version of this book from www.firsttoread.com in exchange for an honest review.
December 10, 2018
What can I say about this particularly novel but that it is a serviceable piece of fiction. Nothing that really lodges firmly in your brain for later mulling, OLD NEWGATE ROAD is not unlike a well-constructed building that is short on architectural embellishments.
Cole Callahan is a typical middle-aged protagonist looking back on a traumatic past as he tries to come to grips with it all. He revisits the old homestead in search of barn wood for his contracting business, and thus we begin a trip down memory lane that gets a bit muddled with all the tense changes that aren't entirely consistent.
I didn't regret finishing the book, but there were passages that I skimmed to speed things up. In essence, OLD NEWGATE ROAD is fine to pick up but if you've other, more enthralling, books on hand, shift this one to the bottom of the TBR pile.
Thanks to Penguin Random House for the copy.
Cole Callahan is a typical middle-aged protagonist looking back on a traumatic past as he tries to come to grips with it all. He revisits the old homestead in search of barn wood for his contracting business, and thus we begin a trip down memory lane that gets a bit muddled with all the tense changes that aren't entirely consistent.
I didn't regret finishing the book, but there were passages that I skimmed to speed things up. In essence, OLD NEWGATE ROAD is fine to pick up but if you've other, more enthralling, books on hand, shift this one to the bottom of the TBR pile.
Thanks to Penguin Random House for the copy.
February 19, 2019
I am very ambivalent about this book. The first two thirds I had to push myself to read. I found the story interesting and it does pose a moral dilemma that could have been more compelling if that had been the focus of the novel. Instead it concentrates on the main character, Cole, who goes back to his hometown after fleeing it as a young man, for good reason. The family dynamic that Cole grows up in is not healthy to say the least.
The family history is revealed in bits and pieces as the story goes on. The last third of the book was compelling. The other members of Cole's nuclear family and townsfolk are set pieces that move around but never became organic characters and so it is why the novel lacked the depth that could have been there. Having said this, I am glad I read the novel.
The family history is revealed in bits and pieces as the story goes on. The last third of the book was compelling. The other members of Cole's nuclear family and townsfolk are set pieces that move around but never became organic characters and so it is why the novel lacked the depth that could have been there. Having said this, I am glad I read the novel.
August 16, 2020
This is a good read if you can get past the language. There is a lot of it throughout this
Book.
Cole Callahan arrives in. Northern Connecticut, his hometown to be greeted by his father , who has just been released from prison for killing his wife, and Coles childhood home, mansion that is falling apart. His father, Phil, is showing strong signs of dementia. Cole figures he can get thr home in selling condition and put his father in a care center. He'll go home to s failing marriage and a 15 year old son that is having problems with the law.
There had been a lot of abuse in the Callahan family, generational abuse. He sends for his 15 year old son to come to Connecticut to work in the tobacco fields hoping this will straighten out his son.
Book.
Cole Callahan arrives in. Northern Connecticut, his hometown to be greeted by his father , who has just been released from prison for killing his wife, and Coles childhood home, mansion that is falling apart. His father, Phil, is showing strong signs of dementia. Cole figures he can get thr home in selling condition and put his father in a care center. He'll go home to s failing marriage and a 15 year old son that is having problems with the law.
There had been a lot of abuse in the Callahan family, generational abuse. He sends for his 15 year old son to come to Connecticut to work in the tobacco fields hoping this will straighten out his son.
December 31, 2018
I liked the premise of this book, however, it was not very clear when the story switched from past to present; which it often did. I read the book about half way and just grew too frustrated with it. Now if the publisher or author simply put a heading between paragraphs when it switched from past to present. The story would be so much more clearer. It also didn’t help that the secondary characters did not have much depth to them. No voice. Frustrated. I really wanted to finish this book because the outline of the story was intriguing.
April 8, 2019
The first chapter grabs you, but then I felt that the book took a long time to find its voice. I is the story of Cole who has returned home, where his father still lives, and where things happened 30 years ago that Cole would prefer to forget.
It is the story of forgiveness, regret, what might have been, and what it is now.
#KeithScribner #OldNewgateRoad
It is the story of forgiveness, regret, what might have been, and what it is now.
#KeithScribner #OldNewgateRoad
April 1, 2019
Okay book about a man who returns to his home town for what was supposed to be a few days, but ends up needing to stay to take care of his past. Kept me reading until the end but not a page turner. Just okay.
September 27, 2020
A very interesting book about a difficult family history from the inside. A dark story only recommended for adults, but one that I would encourage those who like mysteries to read. Also a perk that it is set in the PNW.
September 12, 2025
Ari Fliakos (narrator) could read the dictionary and make it sound interesting. So, of course, combined with a well-written story, hearing the novel through Ari’s voices was a perfectly enjoyable experience.
March 4, 2019
If it wasn't for the fact that I grew up in Windsor, a town over from East Granby, and worked on tobacco at 15, this might have been a two. Just another dysfunctional family.
May 16, 2019
Great character development but ended too abruptly
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2019
Great story!
April 27, 2020
A family saga of murder and violence. Not right for me.
January 18, 2022
3.5 stars. It was a decent book.
January 8, 2019
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'Secrets. He spoke of that night to almost no one for ten years, as if he’d just jumped town and what happened here, his entire childhood, didn’t stow away with him.'
Cole has returned to his hometown of East Granby, Connecticut. “It’s taken him nearly thirty years to come back…” in search of wood for his construction business, wood of superb quality, chestnut. Being his busiest season the return isn’t meant to last longer than a few days, somehow he stays longer. The only piece of the past he wants are what he can take in his flatbed, the wood. As soon as he arrives, he can hear echoes of his mother and her beautiful French, soon remembering her dreams of life in France, but to come the memories of the brutal fights, of the bruises, the years of abuse before his father stole her last breath. Remembering the rages that would move through his father, he feels disgust at any resemblance of brooding or anger he ever expressed when he was with Niki, his wife. Phil, his father, is as gruff as ever, sixteen years out of prison for murdering Cole’s mother, his mind is deteriorating with signs of dementia and Cole is surprised to find him living in their old home. One moment he is present, aware, the next he doesn’t know who his own son is. Trouble is brewing back home in Oregon with his son Daniel whose just been arrested, his social justice ideas hard not recognize as coming for an admirable place but no less criminal according to the law. Cole’s plan is to get his son working a job in tobacco, just like he did when he was a teenager. His son sees East Granby as ‘the sticks’, tobacco representing all the wealthy types he hates, though interested in the grandfather he is finally meeting who is teaching him how to make crepes. His father’s childhood finally open to him. Daniel is much wiser at times than his dad, seeing that not everything can be easily fixed, that it takes action, of course action is why Daniel is always getting himself in trouble. Then there is Liz, his first love back in his life again and the painful secrets she kept are finally being released too. Instead of a hot affair you expect from such novels, it brings to Cole’s mind all the ways he has failed his marriage and his wife Niki. For me, this makes the novel far more believable, that when the two come together it isn’t to salivate and pant over their old loves as if the past 30 years haven’t happened.
Liz brings up all the spoiled past tied up with her brother Kirk, someone in his youth Cole failed to confront. Much like being unable to stand up to his father, failing to stop his mother’s murder, he still carries guilt of failing Liz. It’s hard to even fathom giving a damn about the father who murdered your mother, but it’s much too late to punish him because his father is slipping in and out of the past and present, confused. Cole has carried everything with him and allowed it, despite his best efforts of avoiding the traps of the past, to affect his family. Returning is to East Granby is a confrontation Cole never wanted, but he gets it all the same. Famous for mirroring his mother’s beliefs, that each time is ‘the last time’, he has embraced avoidance in his own life much the same. Kirk’s son LK (Little Kirk) becomes friends with Daniel but as things sour, the old Kirk proves he is still the same bully he always was.
Do we let tragic events define us? Sometimes they do despite our best efforts. Maybe if he can work through the past, get his father sorted out he can move forward and have a chance again in his marriage with Niki? Be the father his son needs. His father still surprises him, and not all of it terrible. This is an exploration on abuse and how the past haunts us until we are able to face the dark monsters, in others and ourselves.
Out today!
Knopf
Doubleday Publishing
'Secrets. He spoke of that night to almost no one for ten years, as if he’d just jumped town and what happened here, his entire childhood, didn’t stow away with him.'
Cole has returned to his hometown of East Granby, Connecticut. “It’s taken him nearly thirty years to come back…” in search of wood for his construction business, wood of superb quality, chestnut. Being his busiest season the return isn’t meant to last longer than a few days, somehow he stays longer. The only piece of the past he wants are what he can take in his flatbed, the wood. As soon as he arrives, he can hear echoes of his mother and her beautiful French, soon remembering her dreams of life in France, but to come the memories of the brutal fights, of the bruises, the years of abuse before his father stole her last breath. Remembering the rages that would move through his father, he feels disgust at any resemblance of brooding or anger he ever expressed when he was with Niki, his wife. Phil, his father, is as gruff as ever, sixteen years out of prison for murdering Cole’s mother, his mind is deteriorating with signs of dementia and Cole is surprised to find him living in their old home. One moment he is present, aware, the next he doesn’t know who his own son is. Trouble is brewing back home in Oregon with his son Daniel whose just been arrested, his social justice ideas hard not recognize as coming for an admirable place but no less criminal according to the law. Cole’s plan is to get his son working a job in tobacco, just like he did when he was a teenager. His son sees East Granby as ‘the sticks’, tobacco representing all the wealthy types he hates, though interested in the grandfather he is finally meeting who is teaching him how to make crepes. His father’s childhood finally open to him. Daniel is much wiser at times than his dad, seeing that not everything can be easily fixed, that it takes action, of course action is why Daniel is always getting himself in trouble. Then there is Liz, his first love back in his life again and the painful secrets she kept are finally being released too. Instead of a hot affair you expect from such novels, it brings to Cole’s mind all the ways he has failed his marriage and his wife Niki. For me, this makes the novel far more believable, that when the two come together it isn’t to salivate and pant over their old loves as if the past 30 years haven’t happened.
Liz brings up all the spoiled past tied up with her brother Kirk, someone in his youth Cole failed to confront. Much like being unable to stand up to his father, failing to stop his mother’s murder, he still carries guilt of failing Liz. It’s hard to even fathom giving a damn about the father who murdered your mother, but it’s much too late to punish him because his father is slipping in and out of the past and present, confused. Cole has carried everything with him and allowed it, despite his best efforts of avoiding the traps of the past, to affect his family. Returning is to East Granby is a confrontation Cole never wanted, but he gets it all the same. Famous for mirroring his mother’s beliefs, that each time is ‘the last time’, he has embraced avoidance in his own life much the same. Kirk’s son LK (Little Kirk) becomes friends with Daniel but as things sour, the old Kirk proves he is still the same bully he always was.
Do we let tragic events define us? Sometimes they do despite our best efforts. Maybe if he can work through the past, get his father sorted out he can move forward and have a chance again in his marriage with Niki? Be the father his son needs. His father still surprises him, and not all of it terrible. This is an exploration on abuse and how the past haunts us until we are able to face the dark monsters, in others and ourselves.
Out today!
Knopf
Doubleday Publishing
Read
April 13, 2019I'm just left thinking "okay, and?"
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews