The Wild Road Home by Melissa Payne
The Wild Road Home by Melissa Payne is a stunning tale of love and endurance, of a young woman and an older man helping each other to craft hope and meaning out of what seems to be little more than shattered dreams.
A Staged Death for Love
Sixty-seven-year-old Mack Anders staged his own death three months ago and is now living on the grid in a remote stretch of Wyoming wilderness, with one slim hope to sustain him: that his Alzheimer-stricken wife Daisy will use his life insurance money to heal her cancer. The sacrifice seems worth it when he thinks how much he loves her. “Back when he’d met her, Daisy had been a weather disturbance all on her own. Upending Mack’s life with her beauty, her wit, and a strength of character that drilled down to her core.” The two had founded Anders Outfitters, a popular Wyoming business that offered the best wildlife guides along with lucrative hunting and fishing trips. But then the company foundered, and personal tragedy struck as well. Now money is scarce, and life is bleak; Daisy no longer recognizes Mack, and he can’t visit her because he’s reported as dead.
On A Rescue Mission
Eighteen-year-old Brandi Harris, just released from juvie, sneaks out of her halfway house to check on her five-year-old brother Sy who is living with their meth-addicted mother Nancy. Confronted by Nancy’s latest abusive boyfriend, Brandi feels compelled to rescue Sy from a house that smells “of cat piss and rotten meat.” She steals the boyfriend’s car to drive her little brother to Casper, Wyoming, where she hopes to reunite with her Aunt Heather and convince her to give Sy a stable home life, just like she filled in when Brandi was growing up. Brandi hasn’t seen her aunt in years but it’s her only hope.
An Unlikely Partnership in the Wilderness
As Mack hikes through the wilderness to his cabin that night he sees a small SUV “driving like it was being chased and up a road Mack knew went nowhere.” It isn’t until the next morning that he decides someone might need help. In fact, Brandi and Sy could not be more vulnerable. They’ve been stranded overnight in the Wyoming wild with a flat tire, barely any gasoline, and no idea where Casper, Wyoming might be.
At first, Brandi mistrusts the skinny old man with a stump for a left arm, “wrinkled face and clothes, and long white hair that has grown over his ears but didn’t make it to the top of his head.” But she needs him, at least to change the tire. The one-armed Mack cannot change it alone, so they become an unlikely team as they try to get to Casper. Before too long Brandi knows “exactly what Daisy had loved about Mack. He was fierce, he was protective, and he was safe.” And then there is his voice. “Such a great voice. The kind that would narrate one of those nature shows.” While Mack is not always comfortable in the savior role to Brandi and Sy, he grows into the role, fed often by considering what his beloved Daisy would do and choosing the same generous path.
A Journey of Growth and Redemption
Payne draws raw and vulnerable characters that jump off the page in their self-reflection, honesty and courage. The self-hate that Mack and Brandi exhibit in their lowest moments feels as wrong as their questionable moral compass—giving themselves permission to siphon gas, steal cars and rob markets for junk food so they don’t starve—feels right. Brandi may end up back in jail and Mack may have to accept that Daisy wants to die from her cancer, but the endearing Sy, who has made a habit of holding onto Mack’s stump of a left arm to calm himself, is their priority. They break bad with deep reluctance and only in the face of worse evils. We cheer their resourceful courage because it is often all they have.
One of the many strengths of The Wild Road Home is its riveting climax, with a conclusion that satisfies on every level of love and connection and most likely will bring tears. “When everything else goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching — they are your family.” Mack and Brandi are unlikely partners but they stand up for each other with a generosity and boundless energy that inspires us all to do the same for those we love the most.
About Melissa Payne:
Melissa Payne is the bestselling author of four novels, including A Light in the Forest and The Night of Many Endings. After an early career raising money for nonprofit organizations, Melissa began dreaming about becoming a published author and wrote her first novel.
Her stories feature small mountain towns with characters searching for redemption, love, and second chances. They have been three-time Colorado Book Award finalists and Colorado Authors League 2019 and 2023 winners for mainstream fiction. She enjoys speaking about her writing journey at book clubs, literary festivals and in interviews. She believes that everyone has a story to share.
Her upcoming novel, The Wild Road Home, will be released March of 2024.
Melissa lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her husband and three children, a friendly mutt, a very loud cat, and the occasional bear. For more information, visit www.melissapayneauthor.com or find her on Instagram @melissapayne_writes.
