A couple, who divorced many years ago and have not spoken in nearly 20 years are reunited on a road trip across Canada, as they receive word that the remains of their daughter who has been missing for many up years may have been found.

Old wounds are opened and also healed as the hope of finally getting answers and closure beckons.
They’re dealt with Unas disappearance very differently in the years that have passed. Yannick has remarried and had more children, whereas Kathleen lives a very solitary life but marks her daughters missing days religiously.

Beautifully written and the Canadian landscape captured wonderfully.

Their daughter missing, presumed dead, for circa 20 years. The couple themselves, estranged and both anguished by what happened but unable to find solace from each other.
Beautifully written, suspenseful and I loved how the characters were flawed.

It’s irksome to her, how well she knows this man, how much he has changed and how exactly the same he is ...
Kathleen and Yannick have not spoken for nineteen years, not since what happened with their daughter.
Now, there’s unexpected news from the other side of the country, and the call for a road trip they can only make together.

This is a great story. A road trip unlike any other. It’s one of those wonderfully written books with the characters really living in it. No super humans, just ordinary people with their thoughts and problems we can all identify with. It has a way of holding the reader so that you’re eager to see what happens next, as a good read should. I absolutely loved this book.
It will be published on the 16th May 2024.

My thanks to #NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have reviewed Moon Road by Sarah Leipciger for book recommendation and selling site LoveReading.co.uk. I’ve chosen this novel as both a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month. Please see the link for the full review.

I enjoyed this book very much. Kate and Yannick make a good double act; and it is refreshing to read a book where the main characters are a similar age to me, the reader. Very well written, well judged pacing and a very good plot. The parts dealing with the daughter, Una, are interspersed at just the right places. And I really liked the ending which rounded everything off perfectly and sensitively. Highly recommended.

Moon Road follows Kathleen and Yannick who meet up after not speaking for 19 years due to their daughter, Una going missing. Some news comes from the other side of the country so they decide to go on a road trip together. This road trip helps them to connect and reminisce.

To be completely honest I don’t know what to say about this novel. It was fine but I really don’t think I’m the target audience for this. It was very boring and I just didn’t care about the characters. I think comparing this to Elizabeth Strout does this book a huge disservice. This wasn’t for me but I think it could be for the older generation of readers. Plus there was a lot of inane conversations in this like stopping to pee on the road trip and Kathleen talking about her tooth extraction.

A heart rendering story of a lost daughter, Una and the quest to find her over the decades, how it affects the parents and what the parents do to find Una,
A large part of the story is about a road trip back to the place where Una was last seen as "bones" have been found that could be Una's. The relationship of the parents who have been divorced for years is told and you can get a real feeling for the trauma and effects of the lost on the mother and father's lives.
Easy reading, flowing well. Though not the most uplifting of tales.

'that moonlight reflection on the water. That moon road. Where it might lead and how far it might take her'.

Kathleen and Yannick's daughter Una went missing over 19 years ago. However, their marriage dissolved long before that. They had always managed to stay friendly, despite Yannick moving on to other marriages and more children. But when they lost their daughter, when the missing case was finally suspended, so too was their relationship - so too was Kathleen's life, 'A loneliness that got used to itself'. When a call comes through about the discovery of some old bones, female bones, that need DNA identification, Yannick convinces Kathleen to take a road trip with him right across Canada to submit a sample. And so the real story begins.

'Moon Road' is a contemporary, literary fiction novel full of evocative language and introspection. We hear from Kathleen. We hear from Yannick. Sometimes we're on the road with them, in the present. Sometimes we're reminiscing. And occasionally we hear whispers from the missing girl. All in all, we're searching. Searching for love, for friendship, for meaning and purpose. As we cross Canada's endless, flat prairies, make our way over the unspoiled, commanding Canadian Rockies, and cross the ocean to Vancouver Island's isolating beauty, we find that the end is not the destination.

If you enjoy lyrical writing, character studies, and unraveling mysteries, you're sure to enjoy 'Moon Road'.

'Your kid is two people: the one that belongs to you, needs you, and the one that does not. Una, she is neither and she is both'.

A road trip like no other. A much loved daughter missing for several decades. A couple, estranged for many years are contacted with the possibility of knowledge of their daughter’s whereabouts. A now non existent relationship is rekindled by a common goal: to solve the mystery of her disappearance. Narrative swings between anger and antagonism at past perceived slights and recollections of happier times in a loving family relationship. A dialogue of a relationship unable yet still attempting to recover from a traumatic loss. A First love that could not survive the trials and tribulations of their past now in a struggle to connect in a situation that is every families worst nightmare. A gentle storyline that rips open the hearts of two mature damage individuals seeking answers to a lifelong mystery and an end to their guilt and loneliness . Beautifully written with the callousness of bitterness balanced with the heartbreaking sensitivity of the heart broken. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This is the most beautiful, lyrical book about loss and hope. It's such a brilliant evocation of a fractured family and the story of a marriage. The thread of the story is a long and uncomfortable road trip, but this is the vehicle that sets the histories of characters spool outwards in a very natural way. By the end, I felt as if I knew these people so well and I felt their heartaches. A book to savour and return to.

4-5 stars

Many years ago, Kathleen is married to Yannick, but they haven’t spoken for nineteen years after what happened to their daughter, Una. It’s 19 years since he left Kathleen‘s driveway, and since then, not one word. However, today he rings her to say he’s coming to town whether she likes it or not. He tells her he’s driving out west to Vancouver because there’s potential news which is highly significant since it’s 7900 days or so (about 22 years) since Una‘s disappearance. Yannick wants Kathleen to go with him to see if the discovery of historic bones is indeed their daughter. Kathleen is very reluctant, but eventually she agrees. Is it a wild goose chase? Whether it is or not, Yannick thinks the long journey will be worth it, and they duly set off for the 2500 mile drive in a rickety old pick up truck. A long journey in which to talk, to reminisce and may find a way back to each other.

Although this does sound bleak after all it’s about loss, grief and the suffering of not knowing, this is a beautiful novel which is wonderfully told. Sarah Leipciger effortlessly pulls you into the storytelling and holds my attention throughout. It’s not just about their missing daughter and how they have coped or not, but it’s also a reflective novel on family life with its ups and downs and some dysfunction. It looks at how it feels to watch your children grow up, their rights of passage, becoming independent and flying the nest. We view the lack of harmony at times between Kathleen and Una, the chaotic life of Yannick and his many relationships and his other children. It feels authentic and real.

The two central characters of Kathleen and Yannick are so well portrayed. Kathleen is strong, single-minded and a tough independent cookie. She’s straight talking, awkward, she can be very demanding - just ask her friend Heather! Comparisons have been made to Elizabeth Strout’s female characters, such as Olive Kitteridge and I can see that, but in all honesty, I like this writing and this character better than what it has been compared to. Kathleen is likeable for all her flaws.

As for Yannick, he’s a restless, unsettled, soul, seeking something that he doesn’t find. He’s now feeling his age, creaky bones and aching joints which comes to us all. The journey is symbolic of Yannick’s search for something as they both search for Una.

I love the journey across Canada, you get a great tour across the beautiful, huge country. It’s colourfully described as the pair discuss and reflect as the backdrop reflects back through the truck windows. The journey enables us to understand the situation surrounding Una, the fears, the suspicions, and the desperation to find an answer. The pair start out uncomfortable with each other, but that changes as they become comfortable enough to snipe without rancour and may be move to acceptance.

There are some inserts, which we assume are Una these are tense but also very moving.

Overall, this is a fantastic, thoughtful, moving book and one I highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld, for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

This book is beautifully written but I did find it hard to read. I cannot say that I liked any of the characters and that is probably why I found it so difficult. I would recommend that this book be read though, if only to follow the lovely descriptions in the road trip.

Moon Road revolves around an estranged couple, Kathleen and Yannick, who embark on a road trip across Canada following to see if their daughter. Una, who went missing 20 years ago has been found.

The road trip serves as a journey of rediscovery and reconciliation for the estranged couple. As they travel across Canada, they confront their shared history, and grapple with their emotions.

I have to admit, that my review makes it sound incredibly bleak! It is however, it is a beautifully written and captivating read; one that I feel will stay with me for a while.

A long while ago, I read Leipciger's 'The Mountain Can Wait' and recall having a good reading experience. When I read the synopsis of 'Moon Road', and requested it, I was delighted to be accepted - so, thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

'Moon Road' is about a divorced Canadian couple - Kathleen and Yannick - who live in the east of the country. Years before, their only daughter, Una, went missing out west and Kathleen always acknowledges her birthday, despite not knowing what happened to her. One day, Yannick turns up at Kathleen's and wants her to travel to BC with him to try and find Kathleen. In fact, there is a chance that remains of her body have been found and they have to go and see if it's her.

This novel is beautifully written - Leipciger's language is masterful. She has a great skill of marrying the serious with the funny. Kathleen is a strong character (and yes, reminiscent of Olive Kitteridge, in some ways, although not as cantankerous! I therefore agree with the comparisons to Strout's work, although this is also quite different). Readers are taken on a journey across Canada - small towns, endless highways, prairies - very much like Kathleen and Yannick's journey in the novel. It is a journey of discovery for them both, as well as not knowing what they will find at the other end. It must be heart-breaking to know that the only daughter they had between them has vanished - and no-one knows what really happened.

There are interesting switches to focus on Una - but she is unnamed and the present journey with the two protagonists runs alongside Una's own journey years before. Things come to a head at the end as Kathleen prepares to fly back east, leaving Yannick alone.

I loved this. It does everything a quality contemporary novel should do. I hope others enjoy it, too.

Una has been listed as missing for over twenty years. During that time, her parents Kathleen and Yannick have never given up hope that they will one day find her. The couple split up when Una was just a child, but did remain friends until a major fallout some years later. Kathleen especially has never quite moved on, each year she holds an awareness party and always waits in expectation of hearing something. Yannick has tried to rebuild his life, with several marriages and more children, but things have never worked out for him. When some remains are found that could be Una, hatchets are buried and a road trip is undertaken, thousands of kilometres going across the country.

From the start this is a captivating read. Though the disappearance of Una is the back bone of the story, the driving force and focus is on Kathleen and Yannick. The road trip unwraps to reveal how their relationship was and is, how self centred Kathleen has become in her constant quest for a result, and how Yannick has never found the happiness he’s been looking for since Una’s disappearance, with his subsequent relationships always falling short.

This is a book you take your time with. No rushing, there’s all those kilometres to cover, and the background to unfurl at its own pace.

One to make you think and remember long after the last page.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House.

A story which paints pictures of a road trip across Canada. For years, after Una is lost, her devastated parents cling to the hope that she will be found and then they are contacted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Empathetic characters mean the reader is invested in the hope too, as they share this journey with the emotionally relatable couple

One of those books that could break you a little.
The trauma and the grief, the loss and not knowing what happened to your child for twenty years... honestly, I was desperate enough just to get to the end of the book to find out.
Two incredible main characters, so different, dealing with things their own way.
A stunner.

Sarah Leipciger returns to her native Canada for her third novel, the story of a missing girl and her parents who receive news decades after she disappeared.
Yannick has remarried several times since Una went missing, fathering another four children; Kathleen has remained alone, intent on finding her daughter and growing ever more irascible. On the eve of the annual party she hosts to raise awareness of Una, Yannick and Kathleen meet to discuss the news they’ve both received. He persuades her to travel with him to Vancouver where Una had been living to talk to the police. Their journey is slow and difficult, hampered by age and health problems, but by the time they return to their separate lives, each of them has come to some sort of peace both with each other and with themselves.
Although we discover what happened to Una, Leipciger's novel is about her parents rather than her, portraying the upending of their lives by a loss that has never been resolved with a touching compassion and tenderness. Kathleen’s single-minded pursuit of information about Una has left her isolated and insensitive, lost in a grief for her daughter which is not the same as the grief of a bereaved mother. Yannick’s sadness has been buried in his successive families, slowly surfacing as he and Kathleen drive across the country not knowing what they might find. Leipciger's writing is as striking as I remembered from her previous novels, glorious descriptions of the natural world shining out from elegantly pared back prose. A novel to savour and return to.