13 year old Alex is taken on a nostalgic trip around America by Mum whilst she re-visits old friends and tries to come to terms with her own life. Meanwhile Alex struggles with relationships and questions of sexuality and gender arise.
This well written engrossing book draws the reader into the world of runaways, foster homes and ultimately friendship and love. Although I found this novel slow to engage me I could not just leave it and although I rushed it in parts the characters remain vivid and unforgettable.
Give it a read, it is worth it.

This story is a beautifully written insight into a mother and child relationship. It sensitively covers sexual awareness, mental health, depression, love and heartache. The book is moving and keeps you intrigued to find out how this story ends. Beautifully written.

THE LAURAS is a strangely lyrical book, following genderless Alex and their mother on a roadtrip across America, intermingled with stories Alex’s mother tells about her childhood and college days.

I don’t have a huge amount of feelings about this book. The writing is really lovely, and I feel like the two protagonists are well written and defined, but in honesty not a lot actually happens and the story is slightly dull. Alex’s mother’s stories are fascinating and it is interesting to see how she grew up – and the idea of the two of them driving cross-country was something I could have really enjoyed. But there’s no urgency. Nothing happens that makes me particularly invested in either character.

I did enjoy reading about all the Lauras – even the ones who weren’t really called Laura – and I do think it was an interesting premise, but unfortunately perhaps not for me.

"He had lived with my mother for fifteen years before she left him, and he knew the signs...: the way I could not settle, the way I couldn't stand the confine of walls, of roads, of anything smaller than earth and sky."

Describing The Lauras as a book about a cross-country roadtrip would really do it a disservice. This story is made of so much more. This story is about gender and identity, and exploring these notions. It is also about the intense and unique bond between mother and child.

I haven't read Sara Taylor's debut offering, The Shore, but having just finished this book, her sophomore novel, I will be seeking it out. The Lauras is a stunning novel that follows 13-year-old Alex and Alex's mother ("Ma") as they steal away in the night and embark on a roadtrip across America, following numerous rows with Alex's father. They venture from state to state, from Virginia to Georgia, to Mississippi and on to Reno and California, and eventually Canada. Their roadmap is Ma's memory, guiding them from place to place as she revisits places and people from her early life. Together with Alex and Ma, we visit the homes and places in which Ma was fostered, the buildings she squatted in, the people that cared for her and did her harm, and those she wants to reconnect with. Ma’s journey is also marked by five females, all with the name "Laura", each of whom imprinted themselves on Ma’s life in some form or another. At one point in the novel, Alex asks why they were all called Laura, speculating (as we do) that perhaps Ma has labelled them all with a generic name. But the answer is that they really were. The first Laura was a childhood best friend, and, as Ma says to Alex, “you try to get the new Laura to fit into the hole that the old Laura left”.

We soon learn that Ma has a trait about her: a need to be on the move; a reluctance to stay in any one place for too long. Like Alex will also come to learn, freedom is much more desirable than consistency. As the novel moves along, we begin to learn if Alex is like Ma or not. Is Alex a wanderer? Or does she long for the comfort of home? This story explores the notion of home and of belonging, but also that of identity. Alex is a transgender youth, and it is never actually revealed to us whether she associates more with being male or female. For some reason, I found her to be more female, perhaps because I, personally, thought she was quite like her mother in certain aspects. I should say here that I will refer to Alex as female for the purpose of this review. Because pronouns tend to define, I feel this is wrong in a way, as if I am labelling Alex. However, I don't feel the English language has evolved enough to speak accurately or comfortably outside binary gender. For this very reason, The Lauras is more about naming and identity as it is about anything else. It explores these areas, as well as the theme of gender, as we see Alex grapple with puberty and a new sexuality, as well as who she is at her core.

"It's bothered me for as long as I can remember, the way the human compulsion to classify stands at odds with my feeling of falling outside the available categories...Everyone seemed determined to put me into a box that I had no interest being in."

What is wonderful about this particular story is that Ma never forces Alex to choose a gender. When a woman challenges Alex, and declares that everyone has a gender, Ma’s response is definitive. “Well, Alex doesn’t … And there is nothing wrong with that. And that is the end of this conversation.”

And that leads me onto one of my favourite things about The Lauras. Alex and Ma's relationship is so unique and wonderful. They test each other, they clash. But they love each other fiercely, have a great understanding of each other and, above all, accept each other for who they are: for their gender and identity, or lack thereof, for their choices in life (mostly Ma's, which are revealed throughout the course of this story), and their need to be free. The restlessness of both characters is reflected very well in this book, as is the pain and suffering they sometimes endure; a pain that, sometimes, even a parent cannot prevent.

The Lauras is an engrossing, eloquent and original novel that I found to be so satisfying, both for its depiction of a unique mother and child relationship and its exploration of some very interesting themes. I would certainly recommend it and would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to enjoy it.

This an intriguing, slow read of a book. Alex is the main character (who prefers to remain genderless), who is whisked away from home by their mother just as they're hitting their teens.

They go on a long and winding road journey as the mother seeks out... redemption, love, forgiveness, duty, I don't know, something, from her life before Alex. She seeks out old lovers, old friends, jobs she has to finish up, people she's been avoiding.

She begins to open up to her child for the first time, revealing herself as a whole person, telling her, in particular, about all the different 'Lauras' she has known, these women who have had a strong and remarkable affect on her life, who may or may not have all been called Laura in reality.

It's a strange book because Alex has to be reactive more than proactive for the bulk of the read. Alex is literally taken from place to place by their mother, forced to abandon their father, and forced to live in the car or in cheap motels. And their mother, who was something of a free spirit from an early age, doesn't particularly seem to worry about the impact of all this on Alex, or whether Alex might just refuse to go along with it one day. Education, pah, she'll deal with that later. Somewhere to put roots down, pah, no need. I wasn't sure I could suspend enough disbelief that this mother (who otherwise seems to care for her child) would do this.

So why did I like it enough for four stars? The writing is very good - descriptive and lyrical without being over the top. Alex and her mother feel like real, rounded people. I did care about the outcome and where the journey would go and ultimately, it was probably obvious to most from the start, but it was about what sort of person Alex would become or choose to become and interesting for that journey alone.

Whilst I was engaged by both the cover and the blurb for this book, I really struggled to get into it. I'm really sorry, but it just didn't hold my attention and after about a quarter of the way through I gave up and put it down.

Thanks Netgalley. I am really not sure about this book and really struggled but finished and had to read others inbetween.

I enjoyed reading this book as we read about Alex being dragged over the country by her mum catching up with things from her past. However in saying that, I am not sure what we were meant to convey from the book - was it the mum reminiscing about a very colourful life or was it Alex being taken away from her stable home to experience these things.

On the brink of coming of age... This is a narrative of a mom and child road trip. So many nuances and details and connections between mother and child. I was always told that if you want to have a good conversation with your teenager take them for a ride and this book proves that topic out in fiction form.

I found this book to be the most boring thing ever. The story of a mother and teenage (of non-specific gender) travelling across USA for some reason that fails to be revealed for a long time (and when it does it is a let-down). I felt like giving up several times, but hate to do that so flogged on through it, but it was not a pleasant experience.

An interesting book about coming of age. You never know if Alex is a boy or a girl. Alex's mum leaves on a road trip going back to places in her past taking Alex with her. When the trip starts Alex is a child but at the end Alex is an adult. You see the relationship between mum and Alex throughout the trip

After a fierce fight with her husband decides Ma to wake up Alex and to leave their home in Virginia. The two of them go on a trip into the mother’s past. She has got a map on which stations of her life are marked. People she met, places she lived, events that shaped her life and character. During their trip, Ma tells Alex about the “Lauras” she has known. Her first real best friend, the girl from the foster home, her flatmate at college. They drive criss-cross through the states, sometimes they stop incidentally, sometimes the mother has a duty to fulfil or to settle an old bill. She accepts any job offered to make some money and to continue their journey. They actually do have a final destination, but it takes more than a year for Alex to finally understand where they are heading to.

Sara Taylors novel “The Lauras” is a mixture of genres. On the one hand, we have a classic road novel. Alex, the narrator, and Ma cross several state borders and stop here and there, meet people, leave them again, always on the run. On the other hand, it is a coming of age novel. Alex is only 13 in the beginning and hardly knows anything about the world. But most of all, Alex is struggling with her/his identity, sometime she feels like a girl, sometimes he is much more a boy. And thirdly, it is a novel about relationships, not just between parent and child, but also between grown-ups and how living on a limited space can change your bonds.

There is some lesson to be learned for Alex. In their encounter with Anna-Maria, it becomes obvious how your environment decides on your view of the world and the development. In a reclusive sectarian world, most of our world simply does not exist. Additionally, mistakes in your life can be corrected at a later point. And sometimes the journey is the reward, not the goal you are heading for or as Sara Taylor puts it: “I realized that what I felt was a sort of anti-homesickness, a sick-of-home homesickness, that home for me was a place I was going to, rather than a place I could occupy.” (Pos. 2935).

When I began reading this novel, I was very intrigued as to see where this story would go. A 13-year-old child is woken up from bed and whisked away on a road trip. That is one heck of an intro! I really liked the author's writing style, as it had a good flow and gave a great description of the setting. The main character in the story, Alex, was also intriguing in that Alex ascribes to no gender. Never in the story is it revealed whether Alex is male or female - and this intrigued me both because of the fact that this is a unique character and because the author so successfully hid the gender identity throughout the story. I liked the way little bits of Ma's life were revealed as the story progressed, and how they reflected the trials and random events that can occur in life as well as the way these experiences shape you. However, by the time I got to the end of the story, I felt a bit disappointed and confused as to what the point of the whole story was. Granted, it is a coming-of-age story, one that shows how life leaves one with many memories that can be good and bad.... but that's about it. After that whole road trip, I kind of expected a bit more. So while there were definitely some positive things about this novel, the overall plot seemed to have no real purpose and left me disappointed. I didn't love this novel but I didn't hate it either.

This book was original and different from usual books I normally read. I t was good to see the change in the relationship of Alex and Ma and the journey Ma took. I was disappointed that throughout the book Alex kept referring to not having a particular sex which I thought would have been revealed at the end of the book

Thank you to the publishers William Heinemann,
Penguin Random House via Netgalley for this copy of the book.

I am really torn on this book. There were parts i liked and parts i did not.

I like the fact that you follow Laura and her daughter Alex on an adventure but i found that in some parts of the book the plot wasn't gripping enough so I lost interest.

I feel that the author could of made the plot more gripping.

I started off reading this book however it really wasn't for me. I didn't feel the book was engaging enough and I didn't feel that it kept my attention.
The road trip and enlightenment was a good concept I just felt it went on a bit too long.
Alex was an interesting character not knowing her sexuality kept the reader guessing but I didn't feel it was enough.
I have rated 3 stars due to my own struggle with the storyline.
I wouldn't discourage anyone not to read this book as it is just my personal opinion.

When Alex is bundled into the car in the middle of the night, it’s without warning – or so she feels. Maybe, though, it had been coming a while. Her parent argued – loud and often – and her mother had a tendency to disappear for days on end, only to the return without explanation. So, when they set off together this time, Alex is confused but also a little excited, figuring out that – at last – she will get to understand where her mother goes and what she does when she’s gone.

I’m not sure I ever go the answer to that but, if what the two did over the course of two-ish years on the road, hiding from their father, it was basically live out of a car or cheap motels and look up people they once new. If I sound a bit dismissive, I’m sorry but – after 300 or so pages it is how I felt.

I know in between there were some pretty interesting episodes (bit of a spoiler here but helping a young girl escape her religious family, staring an abusive ex-boyfriend down in the street and fulfilling long-ago made promises to now dead friends). I really enjoyed these, found the people I met here interesting and different and myself fully involved. But in between there was a lot of time on the road, a lot of eating gas station snacks and a lot of Ma smoking and not telling Alex much.

Somewhere in here was a story about Alex’s sexuality – or lack of it – and they didn’t want to be known by a gender and I wish this has been more front and centre and really explored. This book is about journey’s – Ma’s journey to fulfil promises and Alex’s to understand Ma but it’s also his/her journey to understand themselves…I just didn’t think this was done as well as it could have been. At the risk of sounding cynical it felt like a plotting device rather than a real part of the character and ths story.

All put together, for me, it felt messy. I wanted so much more and I feel like Sara Taylor can write well enough to deliver that, she was maybe just trying to cover too much ground and say too many things.

It wasn’t all bad (though I realise reading back that my frustration is coming through) – like I said the things that happened when they arrived at each destination were absorbing and Taylor’s writing and characterisation at these points drew me in. And the idea was one I loved, one I wanted to like more than I eventually did. It’s a shame as I started with such high hopes but in the end, this was a book I liked a little not a lot.

A spur of the moment decision by Alex's mother to pack up & leave her husband taking Alex along for the ride leads to a road trip with a difference. Alex is battling puberty & has refused to conform to gender stereo-typing. His mother is on a quest back into her past, linked by a series of friends with the name of Laura. As the trip goes on, we learn more of the mother's past & get a first hand view of Alex's inner turmoil. Didn't expect to enjoy this one but I really did get into it & found it to be very well written & thoroughly enjoyable.

This was a superb read concerning mother-child relationships, being true to oneself, sexuality, fundamental religion, gender roles, resolution of issues and road tripping. Alex's mother leaves home one day taking Alex with her. Alex has no idea where they are going or how long they will be away. The two travel across the United States, with Alex occasionally being enrolled in school and Alex's Ma having occasional jobs in bars. This is not a tourist trip and mostly involves staying in seedy motels and run-down apartments. En route Alex learns more about Ma's past life and starts to understand why they are travelling and where they might be going although every so often Alex writes to Dad to let him know they are OK. The two main characters are very well written and. despite their very human flaws, are very sympathetic. The relationship between Alex and Ma is not straightforward but then what teenager-parent relationship ever is? Alex is happiest when alone particularly in the forest or in the ocean and the location descriptions are very evocative. I was interested to read that the author was home-schooled as much of the time on the road Alex is home schooled though not formally, as are other lesser characters. I will not offer any spoilers in this review but will say that this is a book I recommend reading and I will read again to follow through certain threads with knowledge of the whole story. I shall also look out for other work by Sara Taylor, including the previously published The Shore.