Regina Black’s August Lane is a masterclass on redemption and forgiveness. There are generations of hurt people hurting people in August Lane and Luke Randall’s families. No one has hurt August more than her mother, JoJo Lane, and Luke, and they are both coming back to Arcadia, Arkansas looking for recognition, redemption, and another chance. Luke’s return is an opportunity for August to grab a future for herself.
August Lane is messy and angsty. It’s not the fun kind of bonkers romance messy, it’s the kind of mess you get when you’ve fractured all the important relationships in your life and you press on the bruises just to feel something. It’s generational trauma messy. It’s the intersection of race, gender, and class messy. What else could it be? It’s a country music romance inspired by “Belinda” a song about a singer constantly asked to sing a love song written for a woman he cheated on that was co-written by Ben Folds and Nick Hornby. Regina Black takes that inspiration and leaves it in the dust. The singer of “Belinda” knows he’s lying about love in his hit song. Luke’s love is real, but he’s lying to everyone else. Luke’s relationship to the song he wrote with August (and then didn’t give her credit) is more complicated than shame.
August has been the sacrifice for her mother and for Luke. She’s been the one left behind, who they love in absentia, the vessel that keeps their shame and secrets, and August is (justifiably) angry about that. When Luke and August are face to face, they have to confront their different interpretations of the past, the ways they’ve been hurt, and the ways they have hurt themselves. Out of all the mess and angst, Regina Black builds this beautiful redemption for August and Luke. August Lane is a romance, so you know it’s going to have a happy ending, but how they get there is the important part. Not every relationship gets healed in the Hallmark manner. As we move towards the ending, it gets clearer which relationships are most important and the healing goes there. August and Luke’s relationships with music became entwined when they fell in love as teens, which is part of why his betrayal hurt so deeply. Their happily ever after has to include music.
Jojo looms over the story in her many iterations: reluctant mother, beauty queen, defiant daughter, musician toiling away in a genre that doesn’t love her like she loves it, and finally a legend receiving her long delayed flowers. Segments of a podcast interview between JoJo and a white woman about JoJo’s career and her relationship with country music frame the sections of the book. I thought it was a masterful choice, and I can’t wait to hear Regina Black talk about why she made that choice. I also can’t wait to get the audiobook in my ears, because I’ll bet it’s amazing. This is easily one of my top reads of the year. Do be aware that there is child abuse, parental neglect, infidelity, alcoholism and substance abuse on page and discussed.
I received this as an advance reader copy from Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.