Still, a reader may find the cuteness meter occasionally ticking too high. The first is the narrative’s occasional veer toward twee, a tonal choice likely intended to counterbalance darker strains in the story. Two flaws mar this mostly successful novel. His chapters, told in first person, are a marvel of singular voice, a mix of high-flown ironical declamations and truths-told-slant that cause readers to deeply care for this wayward, often dangerous, young man. The novel’s standout character, however, is charming ne’er-do-well Duchess, whose rough upbringing at the hands of a fraudulent father, an actor and a grifter, has gifted him with street knowledge and a self-made code of honor. This compressed time frame, as well as the multiple points of view of several characters, given in alternating chapters, create a propulsive narrative and a beguiling story about how the past shapes the future. Combining familiar elements of the picaresque, a road trip, a getaway car and the hero’s journey, Amor Towles’ absorbing new novel, The Lincoln Highway, is a melange that manages to feel new.
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