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Defense Date

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Department

English

First Advisor

Tom De Haven

Abstract

Road Going Home follows the life of four women of the same family: grandmother, granddaughter, her mother, and her aunt. Mother Karen leaves home at sixteen because she's pregnant, afraid of disappointing parents Ruth and Nelson. Her sister Lacy is just a child when she leaves. Karen has always wanted to leave home because her small town feels suffocating. At the opening of the novel, Karen has moved into a commune in central Virginia. Her father kidnaps granddaughter Dylan in hopes of bringing his family back together. However, the result is the family growing more apart from one another. Thematically, the novel seeks to answer what happens to families when they run away from one another. How do we come back together again? And how do we rebuild those close ties that we once lost?

Comments

Part of Retrospective ETD Collection, restricted to VCU only.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

June 2008

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