A Road Through the Mountains

Briton David Mortimer meets the love of his life, Anna when they were college students in England. During their loving interlude together, Anna becomes pregnant and leaves England and David behind, replaying a similar scene that her mother Grace had played years before. Anna was the product of an extramarital affair and was dismayed to realize that her child, also would grow up without her father as she did. However, history does NOT repeat itself when Anna returns to the idyllic town of Ogunquit, Massachusetts. David has no idea Anna was carrying their child until a decade after Rachel's birth. Rachel, 10 has Asperger's Syndrome, the spectrum parter to autism. She has musical prowess and is bright and verbal. However, she has some severely autistic tendencies such as meltdowns and rigid adherence to routine, such as always drinking from the same cup and sitting in the same place. Fate takes some weird twists and turns when Anna and Rachel are in an automobile accident. Their Nissan is history; Anna is severely injured and in a coma and Rachel's arm is broken. Grace takes the bull by the horns and contacts David. He learns then of his daughter; his own sister insists that he go to Boston and do the right thing. He owes that much to Rachel. David arrives in Boston and spends time with the comatose Anna. Every other chapter is about their time together and his passion for botany/horticulture. Whole parts of this book are devoted to horticultural terms and is aimed at those who have an abiding interest in that subject. Over time it is revealed that Sarah and David's father was on the autism spectrum; upon meeting Rachel, David finds glaring similarities his child has to his late father. Descriptions of the man and his behavior certainly support the claim that he had Asperger's. Although this was a tad predictable, it was an interesting story. I loved the descriptions of idyllic Massachusetts and the fact that David never stopped loving Anna. Rachel's special interest in bridges is somewhat of a metaphor; she in fact becomes the bridge that links all the characters in this story. Dave Loggins' 1974 song "Please Come to Boston" seems to underscore and serve as the soundtrack to this story. Blood Orange is a good companion book to this one.

David and Anna meet during her year in England while they're in college. And then she's gone, back home to Ogunquit, leaving him behind without telling him she's pregnant. Ten years later she and their daughter Rachel are in a traffic accident leaving Anna in a coma. Her mother calls David who has been meandering meaninglessly through his life since college, and tells him about Anna and that he's a father. And so the story begins.Except for the occasional intensive pages with horticulture terms, I enjoyed this book. The story moved smoothly and the end results, although predictable, are what we want. The interesting sidebar of this story is that Rachel, David & Anna's daughter, has Asperger's Syndrome which is on the autistic spectrum. This adds a different flavor to the story and makes the artistic side of things as well as the trip through the mountains that David guides Anna through as she sleeps, a bit more believable and understandable. This story has no great surprises though. Nothing that excites you or causes you to wish it would continue when you finish it, but it's definitely worth the exploration.

Artist Anna Russell raises her ten years old autistic daughter Rachel by herself with only assistance from her own mom. In fact she never told her daughter's father David Mortimer that he sired a child. However, everything changes for Anna when a car accident leaves her in a comatose state. Anna's mother Grace decides it is time for Englishman David Mortimer to learn he is a father. The call shakes the school teacher, who has sublimated his heart and needs into loneliness ever since Anna abruptly left him without a word to return to the States.David resigns though his students are taking their exams because he knows he must go to Boston to awaken his two women, one the adult he always loved and the other the child he never knew lived. As she remains in a coma, David wonders why she left him and if she awakens will she dispatch him back across the Atlantic? As he and Rachel hit it off in some lovingly father-daughter relationship, he remembers a potential key to waking up Sleeping Beauty, Anna's passion for rare flowers.A ROAD THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS is a character driven poignant love story starring three delightful protagonists. Anna is an enigma as the audience will ponder along with David why she left him. Hearts will go out to Rachel suffering from autism with little hope to communicate yet David finds way to reach her. David loves his two ladies, but must overcome his fears of intimacy caused by his beloved leaving him. Readers will weep as this poignant tale reaches deep inside the soul of the audience.Harriet Klausner