Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas by Barbara O’Neal is a road-trip inter-generational story. Eldora is 63 and “should” have been a movie star. Her life was adventurous, and when she finally settled down, she tweaked the story of her what her life was like before family. Now her husband is gone and Gypsy, one of her twins, has run away. Eldora demands that she and India, the other twin, must repeat the road trip down Route 66 they took when the girls were 11 to find Gypsy, who is schizophrenic. Eldora has decided that on the road trip, she will tell India the true story of her life before children. Well, most of the truth. Of course, India has a secret of her own. This book caught my eye because as an older reader, I always appreciate when one of the main characters is at least in her 60’s (Eldora), and because I love stories containing twins (Gypsy and India, Eldora’s 40-something daughters). In my opinion, the ending wasn’t quite what I wanted. It wasn’t tied up in a neat bow, especially India’s story. I did take a star off for that. But overall, the characters are likable and real, the story and setting are engaging, and that kept me reading to the end.

Another good read from Barbara o Neal. Twins India and gypsy grew up with interesting mother elodora and their father Don. The book is told by alternating chapters of elodora past in Las Vegas and indian current life. Gypsy is the artistic twin who frequently disappears because of her schizophrenia. India and her mom take a great road trip from Colorado on route 66 to search for gypsy and back to Las Vegas to uncover secrets from elodora past. A fun read with a good ending.

O’Neal uses luxurious, lyrical language to paint a beautiful portrait of motherhood, sisterhood, and womanhood. I could not put this one down!

This is a classic example of not judging a book by its cover…or its title! I don’t think either does the story itself justice. This is not a light read but it has a hazy romanticism and an underlying hopefulness amid difficult discussions of mental illness, infidelity, and the lengths we go to survive.

Overall, I loved this story!