The Girl in the Road, Monica Byrne‘s debut novel, carries with it one strikingly unforgettable image: a boardwalk across the ocean from India to East Africa. The path moves up and down on the waves, and the energy from that motion is captured and used to power a world transformed by the rising oceans: North America is desolate, and Addis Ababa, largely through its elevation, is the leading center of commerce in Africa.
That, of course, endeared me to the book, as did the use of Amharic. But that’s fairly idiosyncratic.
For others, the key to the book is the voyage of two young women: Meena heading west from India on the boardwalk, driven half-mad from a violent incident at home and Mariama, heading from West Africa to Ethiopia in a caravan. Each have memorable episodes: an encounter with bandits at the edge of the desert, an overwhelming crowd in the churches of Lalibela. For me, that was enough to overwhelm the plot twists (which are a little too convenient) and the final reveal (which was a little underwhelming), making The Girl in the Road an enjoyable diversion.
#WhatIWishICouldDo
Byrne dives into areas of mental instability with a confidence and bravery that I envy: both of her characters struggle, and she describes the edges of madness in a compelling and moving way. That, and the Amharic.
Of course, I also enjoyed the Amharic and both the Indian & Ethiopian locales. I found the parallel strains of insanity and violence in the two main characters disturbing, whether they were reality or just hallucinations. Being mental unstable does not necessarily equate with violent behavior.