His early abusive relationship with his father, along with his inability to break free from the dogma of the church, lead him on a journey where he lived according to the wishes of others, and not for himself. After 35 years, he finally makes the decision to start living a genuine, fulfilled existence according to what he wants.
SACRED ROAD repeatedly mentions abuse, controlling elders, and severe punishments for seemingly minor infractions like going drinking to celebrate major life events. What’s frustrating is that Todd doesn’t really “show” the reader what’s going on, as much as “tell” them in an unending narrative stream that becomes repetitious. There is not a great deal of effort into crafting his sentences, preferring a plain, on-the-nose delivery that occasionally is muddled. Examples include “My father was feeling some guilt, or whatever emotion seemed to show up for him” and “I continued my job that I enjoyed throughout the summer. Driving brand-new cars around and washing them was fun.” These are not the compelling literary gems that they should be.
By denying the reader vivid, fleshed out-scenes, SACRED ROAD fails to allow the reader to form an empathetic bond with the narrator, live through the experiences and benefit from the narrator’s ultimate redemption. The experience becomes less of a memoir and more of an artless litany of unshaped moments.
While SACRED ROAD has excellent material, the author’s joy of escaping his controlling, abusive Mormon past has temporarily overwhelmed his literary technique.
Reviewed by Julia Lai for IndieReader.