Lone Wolf: A Road Trip Story

by Maria Elena Sandovici

Nearly destitute after abandoning her job in a small town where she was the subject of public scrutiny and gossip, Andreea takes refuge in her sister’s unwelcoming apartment in Manhattan. Her only hope for a brilliant future is writing the next great American novel. But she has yet to write a line. For months now, she’s been choking on words, deleting them. For months, she’s been dealing with her sister’s desperate pleas to find a job—perhaps she could waitress?—and her own empty mind in front of a blank screen. Desperate to write, desperate to escape, she blows the last of her savings on a one-way ticket on a slow train to California. She figures the isolation of the journey might force her to write, the changing landscape might inspire her, a new adventure might, perhaps, attract better luck. But what if drama unfolds in real life instead of on the page? Can she break her old patterns? Can writing about the past somehow exorcise it? And how exactly will a long detour to West Texas help her writerly cause?

255 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 13, 2019

About the author

Maria Elena Sandovici has been loitering around Galveston Island for twenty years now. In this time, she's befriended some very interesting people, learned many Island stories, and made up many more. Have you heard about the horses, for example? If you visit the historic Leage Kempner House, the Broadway mansion that inspired Storms of Malhado, you might just hear their hoofbeats going up the stairs. Or not. Island lore, fiction, and history blend seemslessly in a universe scented with sea salt, jasmine, and perhaps the faintest whiff of manure.
Recently, the author has acquired a tiny Island cottage that survived the Great Storm of 1900 and resolves to spend more time on Galveston Island, giving historic walking tours, doing book signings, and soaking up inspiration. We'll let you know how that goes.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 4th book I've read by this author but the first that isn't historical fiction. This one is perfect for summer or vacation reading. The main character crisscrosses America, trying to become a writer. The reader is treated to a story within a story as she writes, ending up where she began. Many of us can relate to that, writing or not.

As with her other books, Ms. Sandovici writes female characters with depth, strength, and spunk. These are women that I'd like to have as friends.

[Barbara J Wicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characters feel real

It was very easy to feel that the characters are real. We have all probably known people like them. Some you don't want as friends, and others you sympathize with.

[Donna Birdwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful story within a story about a would-be novelist trying to escape the oppressive social life of her small town. But ending up either on her sister's couch or on a train with no particular destination is not helping the situation. This is a wonderful summer road trip read!