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It’s 1995, and Debbi Lynn is taking a cross-country road trip with her son, Steve. While she travels with a cell phone, it is long before the time of Google Maps and “find rest stops near me.” When she tells people about her plans to travel the country with only the company of a preteen, she continuously encounters one word: brave. A single woman on the road without the company of a grown man? She is so brave. 

Except Lynn doesn’t seem to classify her journey as a brave one. At times, she almost seems to view it the opposite way. While she does not admit it out loud, this trip is more of an escape. Or, at the very least, a chance to start over. Fresh out of a complicated divorce and overcome by her ever-growing anxiety, Lynn is on the quest for a calm heart and clear mind. 

Leaving Madmen) reads like a diary and makes it feel as though we are right there inside Lynn’s mind. As the reader, we get to experience the joy felt when Steve takes a liking to something they encounter, ranging from newly discovered candies to amusement parks. We also get a sense of the anxiety that Lynn is looking to leave behind. The first major panic is felt at Yellowstone, where in a rush to escape a rainstorm, the mother-son-duo seek refuge in the nearby lodge only to find their tent flooded when they return to the campsite. In this moment, Lynn can only see what has gone wrong while Steve is quick to find a positive. 

Positivity is one of Steve’s most prominent characteristics, along with his abundance of energy. Diagnosed with ADD (or ADHD, the difference is unclear in the 1990s), Steve spends most of the trip at full steam ahead. Sometimes his energy level is much higher than Lynn’s, such as when he’s ready to take on Hershey Park while Lynn is ready to take a nap. Other times, it simply shines through in his personality, like his willingness to approach fellow travelers with questions about where they’re from and where they’re going. 

As the road trip continues, the reader learns more about Lynn’s past. She and Steve are making countless new memories, but in the process, she is also uncovering some old ones. When driving through Colorado, Steve is overwhelmed by the numerous dinosaur exhibits while Lynn is wondering if her childhood home in Denver still looks the same. Through these anecdotal memories, we learn more about Lynn’s upbringing, family life and past lovers, and get a better sense of what she truly wants to “leave behind.” 

Once their trip winds to an end and the pair returns home, Lynn questions her success. Did she manage to leave her anxiety somewhere on the road? Will she be returning home to a fresh mindset and brand new life? Well, the answer is yes and no. In her epilogue, Lynn describes how quickly her life seemed to return to normal; she was back to working and packing Steve’s school lunches within days. However, she mentions one major change that can make everything feel different: taking on a new perspective. 

Road Noise is the perfect book for anyone looking to escape, whether it’s for a few thousand miles or a few hundred pages. Between the adorable moments spent between a mother and her son, and Lynn’s internal monologue spread throughout the book, there is something that every reader can connect with. While we all may not have faced the same struggles as Lynn, we likely all have something we wish to leave behind, and Road Noise teaches us that letting go of the unwanted past is always a possibility.

Genre: Nonfiction
Nicole Maher

A recent graduate of Fairfield University, Nicole Maher is a BookTrib staff member. She holds a double major in English (Creative Writing) and Communication with a minor in Digital Journalism. When she is not reading and writing, she can be found going for a run, sitting at the beach with friends, or taking the train into New York City for the day.

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