Keota

Volk introduces her protagonist, Keota, as a teenage girl abused by an alcoholic father and ignored by her mother. While Keota fears becoming like her parents, it seems a fate she cannot avoid. She resents her nomadic childhood but maintains an equally itinerant lifestyle as an adult, scoping out potential exits as soon as she lands anywhere—even on her wedding night. As Volk begins telling Keota’s adult story, the character quickly moves from sympathetic protagonist to unsympathetic antihero, a satisfying transformation to the reader. At 23 she abandons her new family—which now includes a young daughter, Chris—and travels from Chicago to New York before finally leaving for Mexico. As an adult, Chris coerces her childhood friend Rainy to accompany her in a drive through Mexico in search of a mother she’s not sure wants to be found. Despite some dangerous encounters, Chris remains singularly obsessed with the woman who deserted her. The conclusion is anticlimactic, but Volk’s complex characters, intriguing back stories, and interesting foreign locales make this novel worth the read. (BookLife)