The Road to Dalton

 

The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring

Dalton, Maine #1

Fiction

2023

Finished on 2/27/2026

Rating: 4.5/5 Very Good

Publisher's Blurb:

It's 1990. In Dalton, Maine, life goes on. Rose goes to work at the diner every day, her bruises hidden from both the customers and her two young boys. At a table she waits, Dr. Richard Haskell looks back on the one choice that's charted his entire life, before his thoughts wander back to his wife, Trudy, and her best friend.

Trudy and Bev have been friends for longer than they can count, and something more than lovers to each other for some time now—a fact both accepted and ignored by their husbands. Across town, new mother Bridget lives with her high school sweetheart Nate, and is struggling with postpartum after a traumatic birth. And nearer still is teenager Greg, trying to define the complicated feelings he has about himself and his two close friends.

The Road to Dalton offers valuable understandings of what it means to be alive in the world—of pain and joy, conflict and love, and the endurance that comes from living.

With both sequels to this wonderful debut novel lurking in my TBR stacks, I decided to re-read The Road to Dalton even though I read it less than two years ago. While most of the major details came back to me as I read, there were still plenty that I'd forgotten, which made for an enjoyable second reading. As I read, I kept comparing Trudy Haskell's unfiltered remarks to those of Elizabeth Strout's acerbic character, Olive Kitteridge. And as I look at my earlier review of The Road to Dalton, I am reminded that I made reference to Olive Kitteridge back then, as well. Both novels are set in Maine, and both explore the overlapping relationships between the inhabitants of the small community in which they reside. 

As soon as I finished re-reading The Road to Dalton, I quickly dove into Where the Forest Meets the River. It's another winner!

I'll leave you with my initial thoughts from 2024:

The Road to Dalton appeared (with high ratings) on several blogs last year, so I bought a copy to give to my mom last Christmas. (One of the many benefits of sharing a home with my book-loving, 91-year-old mother is that she passes her books on to me once she's finished reading them.) After reading three hefty novels last month, I decided it was time for something not only shorter in length, but lighter in tone. Had I read the publisher's blurb before starting Bowring's novel, I would have known that despite its cheerful cover, The Road to Dalton isn't exactly a light, breezy story. And yet, it worked for me. 

Reminiscent of Olive Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout's renowned novel), and also set in Maine, Bowring's debut is a story of the intertwined lives of a small community in which everyone knows everyone's business. While no single resident takes center stage (as in Olive Kitteridge), there are those whose lives intersect more with the community than others. Each character struggles with heavy life challenges, which could make for a bleak story, but as I turned the last page, I felt hopeful for those characters I'd come to know and care about in this character-driven novel. I'm looking forward to Bowring's follow-up (Where the Forest Meets the River), which is due out this September. 

The Road to Dalton is a satisfying, poignant read. Recommend!