Toll Road North Book Club with the Franco-American Collection

Join us for our book club! Ahead of Peggy’s event at the Collection on November 13th, anyone interested can plan to borrow the book from their local library or purchase the book through Peggy’s website: https://www.peggyldeblois.com/, or at Quiet City Books in downtown Lewiston! Then, the book club will meet via Zoom on November 6, 2023 at 6 pm to discuss the book and develop questions to ask Peggy at the event on November 13th. The Zoom link for the November 6th book club meeting is: https://maine.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItduCprj0rG9Vq8aeWRd-K-B061XqP4r6J

The Toll Road North follows the character Dee, who lives a charmed life in Connecticut until she and her son are taken hostage while on a college visit in her hometown of Lewiston, Maine. When Dee recognizes the gunman, she is forced to face her secret-filled past. The French-Canadian, Catholic community of her youth is filled with betrayals, abandonment, and secret pregnancies. How will she reveal her shameful past to her husband, son, and friends? Dee makes the hard decision to face her truth and begins a quest to uncover the answers to questions she never dared ask as a child. We meet Dee’s and the young gunman’s ancestors who set the tone for the future generations of each of their families. As the reader follows Dee, her younger parents, and their friends, The Toll Road North explores the universal truth that we all create our adult persona, and often, no one in our present world really understands where we came from.

Peggy Lafreniere DeBlois grew up in Lewiston, Maine and is a proud graduate of Bowdoin College. She enjoyed careers in marketing, journalism, and teaching prior to devoting her time to writing. The Toll Road North is her first novel, and she continues to be inspired by the gritty beauty in her hometown.