A Thousand Miles to Graceland, a review by Di

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A THOUSAND MILES TO GRACELAND
Kristen Mei Chase

Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
January 24, 2023
336 pages

Bookshop.org | Goodreads | Amazon

I was not sure what I was expecting when I chose to read this book. According to the title and the cover, I was probably expecting a light and fun road trip story about a mother and daughter. But, I got so much more.

This IS a mother/daughter story. The mother and daughter have been in an ongoing conflict for years. Loralynn is the mother, Grace is the daughter. The source of the conflict is that Grace has felt neglected most of her life because her mother has had an over the top Elvis obsession for too many years and she had also been coping with an abusive, alcoholic husband for too long.

Now, for her 70th Birthday, Loralynn has asked Grace to accompany her on a road trip from El Paso, Texas to Graceland in Memphis.

It turns out to be a revealing, emotional road trip. Both mother and daughter learn a lot about what makes the other tick. They learn some pretty serious things. And, there is a lot of fun on the way. They make different stops during their pilgrimage. Each stop helps them learn something about the other.

I love Loralynn’s unabashed obsession with Elvis. It’s not a quiet admiration. And I love Grace’s subtle and dry humour as she tries to keep her mother in line during the trip and as she texts the progress back to friends. I enjoyed watching their relationship change along the way.

This is a fun read and also a touching read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

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