Narrow the Road by James Wade

 

NARROW THE ROAD

By James Wade

Genre: Southern Fiction, Literary Fiction, Coming of Age

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Pages: 306

Publication Date: 26 August 2025

SYNOPSIS

In this gripping coming-of-age odyssey, a young man’s quest to reunite his family takes him on a life-altering journey through the wilds of 1930s East Texas, where both danger and opportunity grow as thick as the pines.

With his father missing and his mother gravely ill, William Carter is struggling to keep his family’s cotton farm afloat in the face of drought and foreclosure. As his options wane, William receives a mysterious letter that claims to know his father’s whereabouts.

Together with his best friend Ollie, a mortician in training, William sets out to find his father and bring him home to set things right. But before the boys can complete their quest, they must navigate the labyrinth of the Big Thicket, some of the country’s most uncharted, untamed land. Along the way they encounter eccentric backwoods characters of every order, running afoul of murderers, bootleggers, and even the legendary Bonnie and Clyde.

But the danger is doubled when the boys agree to take on a medicine show runaway named Lena, eliciting the ire of the show’s leader, the nefarious con man Doctor Downtain. As William, Ollie, and Lena race to uncover the clues and find William’s father, Downtain is closing in on them, readying to make good on his violent reputation. With the clock ticking, William must decide where his loyalties lie and how far he’s willing to go for the people he loves.

CLICK TO PURCHASE

Amazon | B&N | Publisher | Bookshop

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Wade is the award-winning author of Hollow Out the Dark, Beasts of the Earth, All Things Left Wild, and River, Sing Out. He is the youngest novelist to win two Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America, and a recipient of the MPIBA’s prestigious Reading the West Award. His work has appeared in Texas Highways, Writers’ Digest, and numerous additional publications. James lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and children.

WEBSITE ◆ INSTAGRAM ◆ NEWSLETTER ◆ GOODREADS 

REVIEW

This is the second book by author James Wade that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Set in rural East Texas during the Great Depression, I knew on page one that this book was gonna break my heart, and I wasn’t wrong.

Sixteen-year-old William lives on a farm with his sick mother. His father, Thomas Carter, is away, as he always seems to be, trying to help WWI veterans get money owed to them. When the local doctor says there’s no hope for his mom, except to get her to a hospital in Houston, William goes in search of his father. What he finds instead is something entirely different.

A bit like the Odyssey, reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn and more recently This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, the tale of William, his loyal friend Ollie, and girl on the run, Lena, will leave a mark on you, long after the last page is turned.

The writing is evocative. You can see the cotton, feel the heat and humidity of a scorching East Texas day. The description of the Big Thicket and its backward inhabitants pull you in so deep, you feel you’re walking along the railroad track with William.

Along the way, the trio meet and interact with a wide cast of characters — a few kind souls, most not, and some downright evil people. I especially appreciated the ‘witch in the woods.’ A diminutive, shotgun-toting healer with the ‘sight’. It is the witch who finally opens William’s eyes about his father and his demons, his own personal struggle, and sets him on the path home.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of Texas history, coming of age stories, and just a darn good read.

 

To learn more about the book, look for #LSLLNarrowtheRoad on your preferred social media platform.

 

CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE CAMPAIGN PAGE

FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH REVIEWER PARTICIPATING.