NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BY: Time, People, LitHub, and BookRiot
An unexpected road trip across America brings a family together, in this raucous and moving new novel from the bestselling author of Nothing to See Here.
Ever since her dad left them twenty years ago, it’s been just Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While it’s a bit lonely, she sometimes admits, and a less exciting life than what she imagined for herself, it’s mostly okay. Mostly.
Then one day Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she’s his half sister. Reuben—left behind by their dad thirty years ago—has hired a detective to track down their father and a string of other half siblings. And he wants Mad to leave her home and join him for the craziest kind of road trip imaginable to find them all.
As Mad and Rube—and eventually the others—share stories of their father, who behaved so differently in each life he created, they begin to question what he was looking for with every new incarnation. Who are they to one another? What kind of man will they find? And how will these new relationships change Mad’s previously solitary life on the farm?
Infused with deadpan wit, zany hijinks, and enormous heart, Run for the Hills is a sibling story like no other—a novel about a family forged under the most unlikely circumstances and united by hope in an unknown future.
Kevin Wilson is the New York Times bestselling author of five novels, including Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Nothing to See Here, and The Family Fang, as well as two story collections. His work has received the Shirley Jackson Award and been selected as a Read with Jenna book club pick. He lives in Sewanee, Tennessee, with his wife and two sons.
“Wilson’s a master of creating offbeat relationships, and this story of family, mystery, and hope against all odds will surely rank among his best.” — Town & Country
“Fans will pounce on the latest from this beloved author of offbeat family fiction.” — Booklist
“Wilson’s living narrative is a combination road novel, domestic drama and snapshot of rural America. Amid the seemingly carefree attitudes are profound questions. What would lead a man to abandon not just one family, but several? And what would it feel like to discover that the only family you’ve ever known is not the only family you have? Run for the Hills raises these questions and more with endearing aplomb. Forgiveness is difficult, sometimes, but these newly introduced siblings give it their best in this colorful novel.” — BookPage
“Unbelievably adorable sibling road trip . . . Real feeling and believable characters? Not problem. Kevin Wilson continues to do whimsy with as much heart as any writer ever has.” — Boston Globe
“[Wilson’s] sweetest novel . . . Funny in a way that hurts just a little . . . Run for the Hills is partly about what children inherit from their parents. But as the Hills get to know each other, the focus shifts from nature to nurture. Each of the offspring has learned something important from their father, from Pep’s basketball skills to Mad’s gift for growing things to Rube’s skill as a mystery writer. But all have surpassed their jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none dad.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune