Alistair Parker becomes a journalist, reporting from dangerous locations around the world. He experiences adventure, love, and loss, but one story continuously eludes him-his own. In the end, will Alistair bury the lead, or will he manage to draw from his rich and diverse experiences to bring a sense of purpose and closure to his own life?
This novel is about commitment-a man torn between love and his perception of his professional duty. In their graduating year of high school, Alistair and Virginia Parker fall in love, but their relationship does not run smoothly. Ginny, with her interest in child psychology, is intent on marriage and having a family, while Alistair's focus is on a career in journalism and eventually becoming a foreign correspondent.
Alistair's career takes him around the world, reporting on major crises in Canada, the United States, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa-from the war in Vietnam to the environmental crisis. The issues he deals with are global and persistent in nature, including racial discrimination, political repression, poverty, famine, economic disparity, global warming, and the impact of pandemics. Throughout, Alistair struggles with his conscience due to his inability to make sacrifices that would affect his safety, comfortable lifestyle, and economic well-being, even though he recognizes some others do and that they are necessary to deal effectively with these challenges. Simultaneously, he confronts obstacles in his relationships with those he loves and whose behavior he admires but cannot himself emulate.
Roads Not Taken spans the lifetimes of its principal characters, with unexpected plot twists and turns, as well as revealing and entertaining personality insights. It is a novel for our uncertain era when we face intractable issues that must be resolved for the world we know to be sustained.
