RUN FOR THE HILLS

Kevin Wilson is the New York Times bestselling author of five novels, including Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Nothing to See Here, and The Family Fang, as well as two story collections. His work has received the Shirley Jackson Award and been selected as a Read with Jenna book club pick. He lives in Sewanee, Tennessee, with his wife and two sons.

“Run for the Hills is a touching and generous romp of a novel, a sort of lighthearted family heist in which the anticipated grift is simply a meeting (or confrontation?) with the characters’ father. The results of their quest are, frankly, beside the point. In bringing the siblings together — with or without the man who helped create them — Wilson makes a bold and convincing case that every real family is one you have to find and, at some point, choose, even if it’s the one you’re born into.” —Bobby Finger, New York Times Book Review (“Editors’ Choice”)

“Like Wilson’s other fiction including Nothing to See Here and Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Run for the Hills gently tugs at the heart.” —Annabel Gutterman, TIME

“Here’s how Maureen Corrigan, longtime book critic for Fresh Air, once neatly summed up Wilson’s ‘sweet-tart’ fiction: ‘He’ll start off with these goofy, almost sitcom-type contrived premises and from there create stories that knock you out with the force of their emotional truth.’ That description remains apt here. His newest novel features a literally found family of half-siblings, on a road trip to track down the deadbeat dad who fathered them all — and abandoned them each in turn.” —NPR.org

“Unbelievably adorable sibling road trip . . . Real feeling and believable characters? Not problem. Kevin Wilson continues to do whimsy with as much heart as any writer ever has.”  —Boston Globe

“Rich with heart, humor and insight into what makes a family.” —People

“Wilson’s a master of creating offbeat relationships, and this story of family, mystery, and hope against all odds will surely rank among his best.” —Town & Country

1. Throughout the course of his life, Charles Hill embraced, then discarded distinct identities and families in ten-year intervals, never fully settling into one place or home. He left his mark on his children through passions that were once his, and that they eventually took on themselves: writing, farming, playing basketball player, filmmaking. Why do you think Charles’s children connected so strongly with his interests, even though he successively abandoned them?

2. Reuben Hill, the eldest sibling, is the driving force in bringing the half siblings together so they can finally meet—and then confront their father over the actions he took over the past decades. Initially they are cautiously curious about one another, but then they bond over the shared mystery that is their father. In contemporary times, more and more people are discovering via genetic testing that they have half siblings they were previously unaware of. If you learned about a previously unknown half sibling, would you want to try to meet them or not? Why or why not?

3. When they arrive at Tom’s home, Mad is worried about interrupting Tom’s young life, but notes, “Maybe it was okay. They would show him that he was less alone in the world. Ultimately, that had to be good. She tried to convince herself that a life needed these moments, where you felt the split of who you were and who you became. Without those moments, what was your life?” Do you agree? And do you think Tom benefits from meeting his siblings? Are there distinct moments in your own life where you have felt the split of who you were and who you became?

4. On the road trip, the siblings stop at a gas station, where Tom asks Mad to play slots for him—and she then wins four thousand dollars on his behalf. How does this moment shape the bond among the siblings? Have you ever done something out of character and then been surprisingly rewarded for it?

5. When finally confronting their father, all the siblings grapple with how to reconcile the man from their memories with the man who abandoned them with the man in front of them now. Did you agree with how each child ultimately handled that conflict? Were you expecting more grace—or more anger?