‘The Road to Tender Hearts' Is Definitely a Trip Worth Taking
Despite a significant body count in the first few chapters, 'The Road to Tender Hearts' is one of the funniest, sweetest, and best books I've read this year. Those two descriptions really shouldn't go together, but when the writer is as talented as Annie Harnett is, she can get away with it.
The plot and characters are complex here, so buckle in.
The book first introduces readers to a cat named Pancakes; it's gained a reputation as the resident 'angel of death' at a local Massachusetts nursing home. Residents have noticed how Pancakes only hangs around those who are about to pass away. This has made it very unpopular. As readers get to know the cat, they see that it's certainly unusual and might actually be the angel of death.
Pancakes eventually finds its way into the home of PJ Halliday, a 63-year-old divorced dad who sits in the center of a Venn diagram, of sorts: He's a failure-to-launch alcoholic with a tragic history; he's the luckiest jerk around, and he's a great guy who can be trusted about as far as he can be thrown. It's unclear if Pancake's appearance in PJ's life is as a terrible omen or merely a cuddly companion; it could go either way.
Wasting Away Again in Pondville
PJ has been spending his life getting drunk in the home he once shared with his ex, Ivy, and their two daughters, Kate and Sophie. The home is just this side of a hoarding cliché, except for Kate's old bedroom, which he hasn't touched since she died in an accidental drowning after her senior prom.
If PJ isn't drunk at home or at his usual bar, he's over at Ivy's new place, spending time with her and her new boyfriend, Fred, an appellate judge eager to marry her. The trio has an unusual relationship: There is almost no acrimony between PJ and his ex, and he considers Fred to be his best friend. This is a great example of the complex interplay in 'Tender Hearts.'
In the same town—a fictional place called Pondville, Massachusetts—some extended members of PJ's family have been struck by a vicious turn of events. In one particular chapter, we watch those events unfold with all the dark humor, tension, and tragedy of the best films by the Coen brothers (think 'Fargo'). It's expertly written, but it's also not for the faint of heart.
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The upshot of that storyline is that PJ suddenly finds himself guardian of the two grandkids of an estranged brother he hadn't spoken to in 40 years. Luna Meeklin is a 10-year-old troubled child and school outcast—highly intelligent, but so battered and alienated by her dysfunctional home life that she frequently withdraws from everything.
Ollie is her polar opposite, a perfect foil for Luna. Only 11 months younger, Ollie is bright, sweet, truthful, and innocent to the point of near naivety. His identity is perhaps too entwined with his sister's: 'Ollie could never be happy unless Luna was too.'
Worst Laid Plans
Even though they have only just met, they all agree to take a road trip across the country to Arizona and California. Why? Luna has become convinced that her father was not her biological father, and her real dad is a man who used to live in Pondville but moved to L.A. to be a famous soap opera star. She has charts, graphs, and other evidence to back her up.
For his part, PJ recently discovered that a high school sweetheart, his first love before meeting Ivy, has recently become a widow in a retirement home in Arizona called Tender Hearts. 'Hey,' he thinks, 'she's back on the market. I should go see her and maybe rekindle a romance.' So, why not travel a little farther to L.A., so that Luna can talk to her real dad?
This is, of course, a terrible idea on multiple levels. But PJ even manages to convince his daughter, Sophie, to reconnect with him and come along for the ride. Sophie is currently out of work, smokes weed most of the day, and hates her roommates, so it doesn't take much to get her to go along with this plan. Pancakes, naturally, is coming too.
Cheering Them On
The pace of 'The Road to Tender Hearts' is brisk; it doesn't stay in one place for very long. However, it's surprising how much character and plot Hartnett manages to pack onto each page while still making it all feel like a natural progression. Even with all these details I've mentioned, I'm still skipping much of the story so as not to spoil readers' fun.
What really makes 'The Road to Tender Hearts' work is the sheer enjoyment of watching the decisions the characters make on their journey—often a heady mix of self-delusions, lies, earnest goodwill, desperation, or just plain stupidity.
Coupled with the effects of fortune, whether in the form of a semi-mystical cat, the divine, or pure probability, I truly didn't know how it would all turn out. Nonetheless, I rooted for each of them to find their way. And if that doesn't make for a great page-turner, I don't know what does.
Two children accompany a father and daughter cross country with a very unusual cat, in "The Road to Tender Hearts."
'The Road to Tender Hearts'
By Annie Hartnett
Ballantine Books, April 29, 2025
Hardcover: 384 pages
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