I enjoy a good road trip book (especially right now when we can’t go anywhere). This debut novel by Ailsa McFarlane is a moody and melancholic tale about estranged couple Anne Marie and Cal who go on an unplanned road trip down the coast of an unidentified part of America (likely South California) after an ill-fated event prompts them to flee the fictional town of San Padua.

It’s a short book - less than 200 pages - and I read it in one sitting. There is not a whole lot in the way of plot or character development, and the sparse prose, syncopated rhythm and stream of consciousness style of writing won’t be for everyone.

There is some lovely descriptive writing of what feels like a mythical otherworldly America, and reading the book evokes a feeling not unlike watching a indie/arthouse movie, albeit a gloomy and introspective one.

Unfortunately though, the story fell a little flat and while it is a short novel, for me it might have worked better as a short story.

It’s interesting and it’s stylish but it’s just a bit lacklustre. It feels reductive to say it’s all style and no substance, when I think here the style *is* the substance. It’s just not substantial enough for me, I need more to get me excited about a book. 3/5 ⭐️

*Highway Blue by Ailsa McFarlane will be published on 6 May 2021. Many thanks to the publisher @vintagebooks and Penguin Random House for a proof copy via @netgalley. As always, this is an honest review.*

A story of a road trip. Anne Marie is married to Cal, though he left her a few years ago, suddenly . He reappears and together they set off on a trip, hitching and then driving for a while. The book describes the places they sleep in and the people they meet along the way and their relationship. No drawn out descriptions, it is a fairly minimalist writing style. I didn't see where the book was going and although there was not a great deal of action, it was interesting and I enjoyed it.
This is definitely a book that now that I have finished it, I am going to be thinking about for a couple of days. The ending was quite abrupt, but brought the whole book into focus for me and resolved some of the issues.
Thank you to net galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Highway Blue, Ailsa McFarlane

When her estranged husband crashes back into her life and sets of a chain of circumstances that force them to reunite and go on the run together Anne Marie has the time to reckon with herself, the man she loves and the mistakes she’s made.

This is a gritty story, Anne Marie unleashes her story and her feelings openly and without apology for who she is. In the stifling heat of the journey Anne Marie comes to terms with herself through a velvet prose. Neither of these characters feel likeable or redeemable but they feel recognisable. An interesting story.

Highway Blue is an exquisite debut novel by Alisa McFarlane. Ann Marie is working a precarious unpromising job and is clearly drifting around an unsettled after the break up of her short-term marriage. We first meet her on her first anniversary. Cal, her husband appears after being involved in something and it isn’t long until trouble comes their way again, a gun goes off and they are soon on the run. This short book then follows them, heading away, unsure quite where just away.

This book takes on a new type of road trip novel, whilst there may be a lack of direction they are travelling on; narratively its impact is instant. Each encounter they have is memorable. In the writing, there is a sharp, intense use of language. The light in the room, the bottle on the floor or the feel of a sofa all mentioned with such vivid language it’s visceral and utterly compelling.

The book is short but it’s easy to invest and emotionally connect with Ann Marie. A simple line of “she had gone away” when discussing her mother, said a lot. What she chasses to reveal we trust and it creates an intrinsic bond. I look forward to seeing what the author does with characters over a longer stretch of time, however this succinct smart novel leaves an impact on their short journey and is tipped as one of the must read books of the year for good reason.

Highway Blue is about Anne Marie, a young woman adrift in her life unable to move on from her husband’s sudden disappearance a couple of years before the book starts. When her erstwhile husband Cal turns up, a series of events forces them to leave town fast. The rest of the book follows their road trip through a melancholy American landscape as Anne Marie remembers fragments from her past and questions Cal’s intentions.

The writing is deeply evocative of place, there are many descriptions of light and architecture and the lonely roads they drive down. It’s incredibly cinematic, McFarlane writes about every detail of every scene we come across in the book in a plain, unadorned prose. You can just imagine the book being turned into an indie road trip film.

Whilst I enjoyed reading this book in parts, I felt that there was some character development lacking which meant I never felt truly connected to the characters. I also found the writing a bit too plain for my taste, and a lot of the descriptions were quite repetitive, but maybe that was the point? An interesting read nonetheless.

I have to be honest. The first thing that made we want a copy of Highway Blue was the cover. I found it intriguing. It promised a different kind of read, something I have been seeking out more and more lately. And that’s exactly what I got. Yes, this book started with a murder (as most of the books I read do, let’s be honest). But it quickly turned into so much more, a dark journey through a dark country, one where most people are living on the edge and seem to have given up hope.

If it doesn’t seem like the most cheerful of reads, it wasn’t. However, by the end, I felt uplifted. Anne Marie may have started the novel without hope but – somewhere along the way – she found it again. It made me feel that, just maybe, all was not lost. That she could end up having a good life, even if it had been pretty crappy so far. I wasn’t so keen on her ex-husband Cal, but I dont’ think I was supposed to be.

Anne Marie was one of the main reasons I liked this book. Beyond that though, it was the writing style. I could picture the landscape, the grittiness of it, the dirt and despair. And it forced me to read at a pace that made me feel I was speeding down the highly with Anne Marie and Cal. It was relentless. And the that this is a debut novel makes it even more impressive.

Overall, there wasn’t anything I didn’t enjoy about this book. Highly recommended.

This is a real road-trippy book - Anne-Marie is just getting by after her husband left her on their first anniversary. When he turns up 2 years later, there‘s an incident and the pair end up on the run.

It‘s a soft pick for me; it‘s beautifully written but there‘s no plot line to speak of, no ending and it felt very much like an extended short story.

Impressive debut novel. Sparse yet highly emotive and atmospheric writing, reminiscent of Paris, Texas cinematography and drifters of Jim Jarmusch’s films from the 1990s. On the surface, this is a road trip novel with estranged couple Anne Marie and Cal fleeing from an accident/crime scene. It is also an inner journey of self-discovery for its protagonist, 21-year-old Anne Marie as she examines her transient life and relationships.

Highway Blue is set in an unnamed yet familiar country, it could be the US, a Central or a South American country. This ambiguity also adds to the wistful, dreamlike feel of the novel. Definitely an author to watch!

My thanks to Harvill Secker and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Highway Blue.

McFarlane writes skillfully but I"m afraid, for me, that's not enough to lift this story into something that would make it more than the sum of its parts. A decent enough debut.

Highway Blue by Ailsa McFarlane is an interesting story told in a lyrical, mesmeric style. The writing is delightfully sensuous and expressive, full of colours, sounds and smells.

Anne-Marie is still a young woman deeply missing her mother who died when she was a child and regretting other decisions she has made so far in her relatively short existence. On this journey she makes with her ex-husband Cal who turns up out of the blue after leaving her two years previously, Anne-Marie gets an opportunity to consider her life from a distance which helps her make better decisions.

Although similar to other road trip stories, I feel Anne-Marie is making a journey of self discovery alongside the obvious physical one.

Anne Marie is working at a bar by night and walks dogs by day, trying to build a new life for herself and forget about her ex-husband Cal. She marries him aged 19 and he disappears a year later then out of the blue he turns up several years on. What does he want? Why is he back? Unfortunately he brings disaster to her door and they have to take to ‘Highway Blue’ to escape the consequences.

I really like this short novel especially the way it’s written which is extremely simply, it’s stripped back and with no unnecessary frills. I equally like that we’re either inside Anne Marie’s head or she’s having a dialogue with us. Despite its simplicity you get a strong sense of character and you see Cal for what he is and so, finally, does she. She’s changed, she’s not prepared to just accept although her youthful naivety does come across at the beginning as her thought processes unfurl she’s really starting to see him for what he is and her idealism has gone. She’s an introspective deep thinker with much more substance than Cal, she’s not necessarily a barrel of laughs, far from it as she can be melancholic. Her mind focuses on the tiny things to stop herself from thinking about bigger issues and she makes apt and profound comparisons to her situation. There’s an other worldly aura created, it’s almost dreamlike and a bit surreal in places and in others it’s sheer chaos which makes for an interesting comparison. The chaos involves some fearful moments of panic which causes feelings of claustrophobia enveloping her. As they pass through areas and places (we assume Southern California although it’s unspecific) there are some good and colourful descriptions of the journey which gives her the opportunity to reflect and make some welcome decisions.

Overall, this is a clever debut which is principally about the growth of self knowledge and understanding, it’s about growing up and confronting the past and moving on.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House, Vintage for the arc in return for an honest review.

Thanks so much to Vintage for letting me read Highway Blue in advance! I'd heard about this one before (not sure where) and I was very happy when I noticed it pop up on NetGalley. This is about Anne Marie, living an unhappy, rootless existence when her estranged husband Cal turns up out of the blue, asking for money. Something goes wrong and they're forced to flee, hitchhiking and travelling along the coast.
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This is a perfect example of a book where I truly feel like the author has totally accomplished what they set out to do and I can't think of anything that could be improved - but I just didn't love it, because it's not 100% my thing? If that makes sense. Ailsa McFarlane has such a sparse and clean prose style, almost Hemingway-esque, and the towns and landscapes Anne Marie and Cal pass through are made so vivid and atmospheric through her sharp descriptions. I'm not sure what part of America this book is supposed to be set in, but it conjures up so well a world of baking hot days, grubby small towns, aimless people, and the relentless pull of the ocean. I also really liked the trickling of Anne Marie's past through the narrative, and the way so much is still left to be revealed. I gave it four stars on NetGalley because, whilst there is so much to admire in this book, I never felt that emotional pull that makes me fall in love with a book. But what a talent! I can't wait to see what she does next.

A fleeting narrative of the underside of American life, a murder, a road trip and a young girl's realisation of growing up and moving on. The story of Ann Marie and her onetime husband Cal's reactive roadtrip away from trouble has interesting vignettes and occasional insights, but ultimately leaves you feeling as quickly empty as after eating too much fast food, and is as ultimately unsatisfying.

This is a vignette, a “brief, evocative description” as the dictionary has it, more a novella than a novel. Its style, poetic and brief, is reminiscent of some of Raymond Carter’s work but, possibly because it is the story of a road trip, it reminds me rather more of Hunter S Thompson’s “we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way.”
Anne Marie had impulsively married Cal when she was 19. A year later he had crept off in the night. Two years later, when she has moved on to some extent, he reappears, possibly because he is being threatened over non-payment of a debt. After a run in with a ‘debt collector’ they run away from San Padua, headed for Eidon (fictional towns on the coast of what feels like California although this is never stated) in a borrowed old banger. Incidents and sights along the way evoke in Anne Marie elements and events of her past, with and without Cal, so we can form a good impression of her while he remains more or less a cipher. Overall, this a deftly written tale, especially as a debut, but it didn’t grab me as much as I hoped it would.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Ailsa McFarlane’s bleakly beautiful debut follows Anne Marie and her estranged husband who are on the run after a dramatic encounter.

Cal walked out on Anne Marie two years ago leaving her empty and numb. When he turns up out of the blue, Anne Marie is wary and with reason. Soon, they’re on the run, one of them having shot dead the man pursuing Cal. As they head south, Anne Marie reflects on this short marriage to a man she loves dearly but who hollowed out her already troubled life, scarred by the death of her mother when she was fifteen. Their journey ends in the city where Anne Marie’s mother grew up.

Delivered in uncluttered, brief sentences from which the occasional gorgeous descriptive paragraph shines out, Anne Marie’s narrative echoes her own pared back existence. Much is left unsaid as her story unfolds but it’s clear that the loss of her mother has left a yawning gap that she hoped Cal would fill. In terms of a dysfunctional love story you could compare it with Gwendoline Riley’s much praised First Love but the quality of McFarlane’s writing eclipses that.

Anne Marie is working in a bar in a seaside town, house sharing with six housemates with whom she has no real bond, drifting. She has a failed marriage behind her - she and Cal had just been kids.

So when Cal shows up again, it lifts the monotony. Anne Marie agrees to a drink, someone dies, and they find themselves on the run. Moving along a highway towards an arbitrarily chosen destination, trying to put distance between them - in a literal sense from the scene of the shooting - and in a metaphorical sense from their past.

The road trip is really a framework on which Ailsa McFarlane hangs a series of vignettes - short reminiscences and pen portraits of some of the people they meet along the way. There are descriptions of scenes - motel receptions, diners, bars, rooms. It feels hot, seamy, decaying. The style is deadpan reportage - almost flat. But it works. It adds to the sense of emptiness in their lives, and the emptiness of the landscape.

My main quibble is that the land is fictitious and feels like a composite of different locations. Perhaps some parts are Mexican, some Californian, some Route 66, and occasionally even European. The names are equally diverse and offer no grounding in location. This is a phenomenon that readers either love or hate. For me, it interferes with the suspension of disbelief.

Highway Blue is a short novel, and one without a terribly strong narrative drive, but it does create an atmosphere. That, in itself, makes this worth reading.

So I am not exactly sure I understand what I have just read! I am a little confused and much bemused.

An introspective road trip.

Anne Marie married Cal at 19, he walked out on their first anniversary, now he's back...and in trouble.

This is a quiet coming of age novel where the protagonist spends much of her time reflecting on her troubled past. The mythical America she inhabits is the liminal world of late night bars and diners, seedy motels, open all hours supermarkets, and the ever-present sea rolling in under cover of the dark.

McFarlane's writing has a melancholy beauty.

My thanks to NetGalley and Vintage books for the ARC.

This short novel is intriguing. It starts with Anne-Marie, living in a shared apartment in a city in an unnamed country. One day, her ex-husband, Cal, arrives and this triggers a journey with him, something she would never have expected.

Evidently, Anne-Marie has had some tough things happen to her. So when Cal arrives, she is reluctant to accept him back into her life. Shortly afterwards, something major happens which ties her to Cal, to an extent, and they head off, leaving San Padua behind.

MacFarlane’s novel is focused on exposition - there’s a lot of telling. This is no bad thing here. The prose is pared back; the storyline is sparse in many ways. Readers do learn about the minutiae, the everyday domestics that we take for granted. We’re never sure where this is set. Place names seem fictional. Does it matter? I suspect a Central or South American country, given details and hints, but at the end, readers don’t really know. What is more important is Anne-Marie’s journey, what she learns about herself. Towards the end, she makes a decision and leaves Cal; this also leaves readers pondering what will happen to her.

I enjoyed this swift read. Some might find it uneventful; some might long for more action. But overall, readers are privy to a couple’s relationship, one that has gone through turbulent times, and it is this which makes for a good read.

This is a short book. A really short book. Which is no bad thing in itself. I’m no fan of the current trend for padding novels out unnecessarily but there’s no way you could accuse Highway Blue of that. It’s barely even a novella and closer to a long story than anything else. That and the prose’s emphasis on evocative imagery and sense of place makes it feel more like a screenplay converted into prose than anything else.
But this is perhaps to do that prose a disservice. Because this is very tightly written. It’s lean, spare writing, with a striking feel for imagery and layers of tightly coiled emotion under its deceptive surface. It’s highly reminiscent of Raymond Carver or perhaps, given its setting and general themes, the short fiction of Sam Shepard.
And yet, what it reminds me of most are the short, punchy novels of Barry Gifford, perhaps most notably Wild At Heart, the first of the Sailor and Lula novels and memorably filmed by David Lynch. Although the books two protagonists, Anne-Marie and her itinerant husband Cal are a lot more damaged, or at least a lot less exuberant, than Sailor and Lula. Anne-Marie, especially, is more a kindred spirit to one of Don Carpenter’s rootless, drifting protagonists – The True Life Story of Jody McKeegan springing particularly to mind. But in its general theme of a young woman’s coming of age, wrapped within a pulp narrative, perhaps a final comparison that could be made is with Alan Warner’s Morvern Callar, with 90s rave culture being replaced with a more timeless, dustily epic Americana.
Highway Blue is essentially a road movie in print. At the start of the book, Anne-Marie is still recovering from her abandonment by Cal when he shows up in her life again. But as ever he’s bringing trouble in his wake and the two are implicated in an accidental homicide, forcing them to flee across country. So far, so very familiarly pulpy and that’s no bad thing. And yet, it feels a little forced and sudden. I get that McFarlane is probably keen to get on with the story but it does feel like a slightly artificial way to bring the two together and keep them that way.
Because this is not a crime novel, it’s not a pulp novel. Not really. It’s about the growth of Anne-Marie’s courage to rid herself of a toxic relationship. I can’t help but feel a little more set-up into Anne-Marie’s state of mind, her past relationship with Cal (and others) might have made the transition into fugitive narrative a little smoother. As it is, the switch from pulp to something more introspective jars just a little.
However, once the pair get on the road, that’s when the story really picks up. The rest of novel is taken up with flashbacks into Anne-Marie’s past and a picaresque series of encounters with Gifford-esque oddballs and misfits as they try to get to the mountain town they believe will offer sanctuary. It’s an engaging series of encounters
There’s already quite a Next-Big-Thing buzz around McFarlane with this book and there’s certainly enough great writing here to justify that opinion. Both Anne-Marie and Cal are credibly drawn and their flight across a bleak sun-parched landscape is evocatively immersive. But I feel Highway Blue is just too slight a work to pin such hopes upon, especially as there are points where it feels like a set of detailed notes for a better and only slightly longer novel. Short novels are deceptively tricky beasts. Everything from pacing, to character, to plot has to be finely calibrated (think just how finely honed The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is, or indeed any of Muriel Spark’s short novels. She’s the undisputed master of the form). There is paradoxically more margin for error in a longer novel, perhaps because you’ve got more room for recovery from missteps.
Nevertheless, this is a quick and absorbing read that’s well worth anybody’s time and points to an author with a really promising future. If nothing else, it’s a certainty that Highway Blue is going become a really great movie at some point in the future.