This an intriguing, slow read of a book. Alex is the main character (who prefers to remain genderless), who is whisked away from home by their mother just as they're hitting their teens.

They go on a long and winding road journey as the mother seeks out... redemption, love, forgiveness, duty, I don't know, something, from her life before Alex. She seeks out old lovers, old friends, jobs she has to finish up, people she's been avoiding.

She begins to open up to her child for the first time, revealing herself as a whole person, telling her, in particular, about all the different 'Lauras' she has known, these women who have had a strong and remarkable affect on her life, who may or may not have all been called Laura in reality.

It's a strange book because Alex has to be reactive more than proactive for the bulk of the read. Alex is literally taken from place to place by their mother, forced to abandon their father, and forced to live in the car or in cheap motels. And their mother, who was something of a free spirit from an early age, doesn't particularly seem to worry about the impact of all this on Alex, or whether Alex might just refuse to go along with it one day. Education, pah, she'll deal with that later. Somewhere to put roots down, pah, no need. I wasn't sure I could suspend enough disbelief that this mother (who otherwise seems to care for her child) would do this.

So why did I like it enough for four stars? The writing is very good - descriptive and lyrical without being over the top. Alex and her mother feel like real, rounded people. I did care about the outcome and where the journey would go and ultimately, it was probably obvious to most from the start, but it was about what sort of person Alex would become or choose to become and interesting for that journey alone.

Whilst I was engaged by both the cover and the blurb for this book, I really struggled to get into it. I'm really sorry, but it just didn't hold my attention and after about a quarter of the way through I gave up and put it down.

Thanks Netgalley. I am really not sure about this book and really struggled but finished and had to read others inbetween.

I enjoyed reading this book as we read about Alex being dragged over the country by her mum catching up with things from her past. However in saying that, I am not sure what we were meant to convey from the book - was it the mum reminiscing about a very colourful life or was it Alex being taken away from her stable home to experience these things.

On the brink of coming of age... This is a narrative of a mom and child road trip. So many nuances and details and connections between mother and child. I was always told that if you want to have a good conversation with your teenager take them for a ride and this book proves that topic out in fiction form.

I found this book to be the most boring thing ever. The story of a mother and teenage (of non-specific gender) travelling across USA for some reason that fails to be revealed for a long time (and when it does it is a let-down). I felt like giving up several times, but hate to do that so flogged on through it, but it was not a pleasant experience.

An interesting book about coming of age. You never know if Alex is a boy or a girl. Alex's mum leaves on a road trip going back to places in her past taking Alex with her. When the trip starts Alex is a child but at the end Alex is an adult. You see the relationship between mum and Alex throughout the trip

After a fierce fight with her husband decides Ma to wake up Alex and to leave their home in Virginia. The two of them go on a trip into the mother’s past. She has got a map on which stations of her life are marked. People she met, places she lived, events that shaped her life and character. During their trip, Ma tells Alex about the “Lauras” she has known. Her first real best friend, the girl from the foster home, her flatmate at college. They drive criss-cross through the states, sometimes they stop incidentally, sometimes the mother has a duty to fulfil or to settle an old bill. She accepts any job offered to make some money and to continue their journey. They actually do have a final destination, but it takes more than a year for Alex to finally understand where they are heading to.

Sara Taylors novel “The Lauras” is a mixture of genres. On the one hand, we have a classic road novel. Alex, the narrator, and Ma cross several state borders and stop here and there, meet people, leave them again, always on the run. On the other hand, it is a coming of age novel. Alex is only 13 in the beginning and hardly knows anything about the world. But most of all, Alex is struggling with her/his identity, sometime she feels like a girl, sometimes he is much more a boy. And thirdly, it is a novel about relationships, not just between parent and child, but also between grown-ups and how living on a limited space can change your bonds.

There is some lesson to be learned for Alex. In their encounter with Anna-Maria, it becomes obvious how your environment decides on your view of the world and the development. In a reclusive sectarian world, most of our world simply does not exist. Additionally, mistakes in your life can be corrected at a later point. And sometimes the journey is the reward, not the goal you are heading for or as Sara Taylor puts it: “I realized that what I felt was a sort of anti-homesickness, a sick-of-home homesickness, that home for me was a place I was going to, rather than a place I could occupy.” (Pos. 2935).

When I began reading this novel, I was very intrigued as to see where this story would go. A 13-year-old child is woken up from bed and whisked away on a road trip. That is one heck of an intro! I really liked the author's writing style, as it had a good flow and gave a great description of the setting. The main character in the story, Alex, was also intriguing in that Alex ascribes to no gender. Never in the story is it revealed whether Alex is male or female - and this intrigued me both because of the fact that this is a unique character and because the author so successfully hid the gender identity throughout the story. I liked the way little bits of Ma's life were revealed as the story progressed, and how they reflected the trials and random events that can occur in life as well as the way these experiences shape you. However, by the time I got to the end of the story, I felt a bit disappointed and confused as to what the point of the whole story was. Granted, it is a coming-of-age story, one that shows how life leaves one with many memories that can be good and bad.... but that's about it. After that whole road trip, I kind of expected a bit more. So while there were definitely some positive things about this novel, the overall plot seemed to have no real purpose and left me disappointed. I didn't love this novel but I didn't hate it either.

This book was original and different from usual books I normally read. I t was good to see the change in the relationship of Alex and Ma and the journey Ma took. I was disappointed that throughout the book Alex kept referring to not having a particular sex which I thought would have been revealed at the end of the book

Thank you to the publishers William Heinemann,
Penguin Random House via Netgalley for this copy of the book.

I am really torn on this book. There were parts i liked and parts i did not.

I like the fact that you follow Laura and her daughter Alex on an adventure but i found that in some parts of the book the plot wasn't gripping enough so I lost interest.

I feel that the author could of made the plot more gripping.

I started off reading this book however it really wasn't for me. I didn't feel the book was engaging enough and I didn't feel that it kept my attention.
The road trip and enlightenment was a good concept I just felt it went on a bit too long.
Alex was an interesting character not knowing her sexuality kept the reader guessing but I didn't feel it was enough.
I have rated 3 stars due to my own struggle with the storyline.
I wouldn't discourage anyone not to read this book as it is just my personal opinion.

When Alex is bundled into the car in the middle of the night, it’s without warning – or so she feels. Maybe, though, it had been coming a while. Her parent argued – loud and often – and her mother had a tendency to disappear for days on end, only to the return without explanation. So, when they set off together this time, Alex is confused but also a little excited, figuring out that – at last – she will get to understand where her mother goes and what she does when she’s gone.

I’m not sure I ever go the answer to that but, if what the two did over the course of two-ish years on the road, hiding from their father, it was basically live out of a car or cheap motels and look up people they once new. If I sound a bit dismissive, I’m sorry but – after 300 or so pages it is how I felt.

I know in between there were some pretty interesting episodes (bit of a spoiler here but helping a young girl escape her religious family, staring an abusive ex-boyfriend down in the street and fulfilling long-ago made promises to now dead friends). I really enjoyed these, found the people I met here interesting and different and myself fully involved. But in between there was a lot of time on the road, a lot of eating gas station snacks and a lot of Ma smoking and not telling Alex much.

Somewhere in here was a story about Alex’s sexuality – or lack of it – and they didn’t want to be known by a gender and I wish this has been more front and centre and really explored. This book is about journey’s – Ma’s journey to fulfil promises and Alex’s to understand Ma but it’s also his/her journey to understand themselves…I just didn’t think this was done as well as it could have been. At the risk of sounding cynical it felt like a plotting device rather than a real part of the character and ths story.

All put together, for me, it felt messy. I wanted so much more and I feel like Sara Taylor can write well enough to deliver that, she was maybe just trying to cover too much ground and say too many things.

It wasn’t all bad (though I realise reading back that my frustration is coming through) – like I said the things that happened when they arrived at each destination were absorbing and Taylor’s writing and characterisation at these points drew me in. And the idea was one I loved, one I wanted to like more than I eventually did. It’s a shame as I started with such high hopes but in the end, this was a book I liked a little not a lot.

This was a superb read concerning mother-child relationships, being true to oneself, sexuality, fundamental religion, gender roles, resolution of issues and road tripping. Alex's mother leaves home one day taking Alex with her. Alex has no idea where they are going or how long they will be away. The two travel across the United States, with Alex occasionally being enrolled in school and Alex's Ma having occasional jobs in bars. This is not a tourist trip and mostly involves staying in seedy motels and run-down apartments. En route Alex learns more about Ma's past life and starts to understand why they are travelling and where they might be going although every so often Alex writes to Dad to let him know they are OK. The two main characters are very well written and. despite their very human flaws, are very sympathetic. The relationship between Alex and Ma is not straightforward but then what teenager-parent relationship ever is? Alex is happiest when alone particularly in the forest or in the ocean and the location descriptions are very evocative. I was interested to read that the author was home-schooled as much of the time on the road Alex is home schooled though not formally, as are other lesser characters. I will not offer any spoilers in this review but will say that this is a book I recommend reading and I will read again to follow through certain threads with knowledge of the whole story. I shall also look out for other work by Sara Taylor, including the previously published The Shore.

This just was not my kind of book, sorry. But it was well written.

I don't really know how to review this book. It is about an adolescent boy/girl, we don't know the gender called Alex and his/her mum going on a road trip through America and learning about her past.
It is an intriguing read and also a little tedious. I can't say I really bonded with the characters and at times I felt I was forcing myself to finish it. It just might not be my cup of tea and you might really enjoy it. So I am not saying I hated it, I just didn't love it so I give it 3 stars.

I really enjoyed this story of mother and daughter crossing the United States as the mother revisited her pet. Alex is a young teen when they leave her dad behind. She narrates much of their journey as she listens to stories about her moms life. It's one of those books you can't lay down wondering what's next in their journey. Great strong women characters and a pretty realistic story storyline. Sara Taylor has written a very good book.

This book was a wonderful surprise discovery. It tells the story of a 13 year old who, after a fight between their parents, is ripped from bed and shuffled out during the night to leave home and undertake a journey of discovery across the US with their mother.
I say ‘they’ because Alex does not want to be identified as either gender – something you see them realising confronting and dealing with as the novel progresses. Alex’s mother leaves her husband, Alex’s father, to embark on a journey that takes over two years and spans the states of America. Is she running away from something, or towards it?

Each city, state or place brings its own narrative episode as well as insight into the mother’s history, introducing us to a plethora of ‘Lauras’, women from different points in her past who influenced her life in some way. It became hard to keep track of all the Lauras, as they seemed to blend into one mythical figure, and although we assume she is looking for these Lauras through the whole book, they all seem to be this mythical figure.

As the book progresses we piece together enough history to watch the mum grow up, as well as watching Alex navigate the rocky progression from 13 year old to almost adulthood, while constantly on the move. This makes the book a journey in more ways than one – it is a journey across America, a coming of age journey about growing up, an adult journey through a past too gritty to be referred to as ‘memory lane’, and ultimately it is about a search for meaning and belonging.

Both Alex and her mother are dealing with their identities in terms of gender and sexuality, and these issues are dealt with very well in the novel, in a way that was really heartwarming. It also deals with themes of abuse, of a variety of different natures, and while this is a difficult topic it is used and explored in ways that help to expose problematic attitudes.

America comes to life in this book – a varied America, with the cliche of greasy diners and strict religious communities, to wild mountainous regions and the sandy beaches of Florida. Each place comes to life with its own history, and potential; every one has its stories. The book is rich in storytelling, the stories we tell each other, the stories we hear and the stories we tell ourselves. It is a beautiful journey through what it means to be a child, a teenager, and adult and simply a human.

Alex's mum walks out on her husband one day after a huge argument. She bundles Alex and a few essentials into the car and drives to a place where nobody knows them. This is how their journey across America starts.

From state to state, Alex and Ma visit places from Ma's past, revealing pivotal experiences and people from her life as they go. Alex hears of foster homes, friends and enemies that helped shape Ma, whilst also experiencing Alex's own adolescence on the road. This allows it to be a coming of age novel for them both, without over complicating the story. There are some very raw stories told, but there seems to be a hope that something better is coming, that there is some purpose to it all.

Each state they visit has a different atmosphere; from the quiet woods and mountains, to the sunny beaches and bustling towns. A new story is revealed in each one as they travel closer to the truth, and closer to the reason they left in the first place.

I loved the meaning behind the title; the sense of hope and belonging each of the Lauras promised, the potential of a different life ahead, and the opportunities that were taken or missed. I also found Alex's storytelling as an adult framed the book perfectly. Again, it could have complicated the story, but it was a refreshing take on the problem of teenagers seeming wise beyond their years.