Library / Parenting Under Stress
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The Road
When the whole world is ash and all you've got is each other. The Road is the most brutal love letter a parent ever wrote. 🔥
Who it's for
The novel strips parenting down to its most basic acts, feeding, warming, guarding and reassuring, so parents under extreme stress can see their constant vigilance mirrored and honored rather than dismissed.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Cormac McCarthy's 2006 novel follows a father and his young son traveling through an ash-covered, devastated United States after an unexplained catastrophe. Knowing they cannot survive another northern winter, they head south toward the coast, pushing their few belongings in a supermarket cart. Along the way the father works to keep his son's sense of goodness and hope alive.
Where to find it
In print (Vintage/Knopf) and widely available in libraries (Libby/Hoopla); audiobook available. Not public domain. A 2009 film adaptation exists.
Before you start
Heads up: A mother's suicide and cannibalism.
Age: Ages 16+
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, “On Children”
