Million Dollar Road

Book excerpt: From the “wholly original” author of The Right Thing comes this heartfelt story of a young woman’s yearning for a better life in the heart of Louisiana (Bret Lott, New York Times–bestselling author) Eighteen-year-old Lireinne Hooten has always been on the lowest rung of the ladder. Abandoned by her mother, Lireinne lives with her stepfather in an old trailer and spends her days working at the world’s largest alligator farm. Shy and overweight in high school, Lireinne has become lean, resilient, and naïvely alluring from months of physical labor. Lireinne’s boss, Con Costello, is powerful, attractive, and used to getting exactly what he desires. Now that he’s noticed Lireinne’s haunting beauty, he wants her, too. But unlike all the other women Con has left in his wake—like his needy second wife, Lizzie, or his still-heartbroken ex, Emma—Lireinne isn’t interested. Undeterred, Con’s growing obsession will upend all their lives, compelling Lizzie to confront the hard truth about her marriage, pushing Emma past her self-imposed isolation and back into the world—and leading Lireinne to an unexpected chance to redefine herself far away from her past. Insightful and atmospheric, Million Dollar Road is a richly observed novel by a literary talent whose voice is a savory combination of “Fannie Flagg, Rebecca Wells, Kathryn Stockett, then add just a dash of Flannery O’Connor” (Bret Lott).