Run for the hills A novel

Up until Reuben, a writer based in Massachusetts, shows up at her farm stand in small-town Tennessee, Madeline Hill has been content managing the family farm with her mother. But Reuben throws her a curveball when he tells her that he is her half-brother. They share the father who left her and her mother (and Reuben) many years ago. What's more, through the services of a private detective, Reuben knows of at least three more half-siblings whom their father abandoned and who live around the country. He is intent on rounding them all up before driving to California to meet their dad. As improbable as this quest might first appear, Madeline is sold. Like her brother, she too wants closure and piles into his PT Cruiser, determined to meet her new-found family. Even if this road trip occasionally stalls, Wilson (Now Is Not the Time to Panic, 2022) peppers the heartwarming story with his signature whimsy and plenty of soul. Equally important, during the journey, this modern family relearns what love and care might look like.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Fans will pounce on the latest from this beloved author of offbeat family fiction.

A set of half-siblings meet each other for the first time in this pleasant if tepid road novel from Wilson (Now Is Not the Time to Panic). It's 2007 when Boston mystery author Rube Hill learns he has three younger half-siblings. He rents a car and drives south to look up his half-sister, Madeline "Mad" Hill, an organic farmer in Tennessee. As Rube explains to Mad, their father abandoned each of their families in turn before starting a new life. Rube convinces Mad to join him on a road trip to visit their other two half-siblings--Pepper "Pep" Hill, a college basketball sensation in Oklahoma, and Theron, who's still a young child, in Utah--before continuing to California in search of their father. As Rube drives across the country assembling the group, they compare memories of their father and the lingering hurt over his sudden disappearances. Though the tone verges on saccharine, Wilson's character work is top-notch, and he makes clear how the foursome struggle to connect in part because their father was a different man while raising each of them. This has less bite than Wilson's best work, but there's still plenty of heart. Agent: Julie Barer, Book Group. (May)