As with 'The Road to Reckoning' by Robert Lautner that was basically a road trip novel with western bits sprinkled over the top, 'The Girl in the Road' is also a road trip novel but with a sprinkle of science fiction.
Set about a hundred years in the future, a new energy source is being used. The sea. Thousands of upside down pyramid shaped scales (known as 'The Trail) line the sea between India and Africa. Our leading lady, Meena wakes up one morning with a snake bite on her chest she decides to try and walk along the trail to get to Ethiopia to escape whomever is trying to kill her and to find the killer of her parents (who were murdered while she was still in the womb). We also follow a literal road trip of a young girl called Mariama who runs away from home after finding her mother dead, bitten in the chest by a snake. She stumbles upon a couple of friendly travellers and joins them on a cargo convoy to Ethiopia. What the relation between these two women, to me seemed quite obvious, though a few moments made me question myself. I wont mention what it actually is, to keep you guessing too.
Apart from a fancy ipad type device, new sources of energy on a grand scale and the political landscape of India and the African nations (all of which play a very minor role in the story) this could be set at any time period really. So if you're expecting Iain M. Banks, you couldn't be more wrong, I found it was closer to the equally excellent 'The Windup Girl' by Paolo Bacigalupi. Road trip books tend to be about growing up or finding yourself and this is no different. It explores the meaning of love, but in a subtle way -this isn't 'chick lit'! It is a very great début that you should definitely give a try no matter what genre of book you normally read, this beautifully written gem will stay with you for a long time.
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