Crisscrossing the American landscape, Let’s Get Lost is an insider’s view of one girl’s epic journey to witness the Northern Lights and the stories of the lives she selflessly changes along the way.
Our sneak peek into Leila’s adventures begins with her car tune-up in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where she meets Hudson, the auto mechanic’s son. Their attraction is instant, but when their short fling turns from sweet to sour, she resumes her journey north without exchanging phone numbers. As we meet new people along Leila’s wandering road trip, we jump feet-first into their trials while getting only elusive snippets of Leila’s story. She reveals a bit about the curious scar on her neck to hitchhiking Bree near Kansas City; a few vague truths from her less-than-perfect love life to Elliot in Minneapolis; and shares her “I’ve been there, too” strength in Hope, British Columbia, with guilt-stricken Sonia, who’s found new love so soon after a large loss. But it’s not until Leila is in Fairbanks, Alaska, and lying under the Northern Lights that we learn the true reason for her life-affirming excursion.
Adi Alsaid weaves together the distant and disparate stories of his multiple characters, using Leila as the bright red thread to sew the patchwork quilt of their lives. The final product is beautiful, moving—and nothing like it would have been if kept separate.
Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.
This article was originally published in the August 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
