The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road

E.A. Hanks, a contributor to Vanity Fair and the New York Times, recounts a solo cross-country road trip she took along Highway 10 across the American Southwest. Driving her minivan "Minnie," she retraces a memorable route she once traveled with her mother, seeking to understand the complex woman who shaped her life and to discover who she herself is—where her mother ends and she begins. Following her mother's diaries and her own recollections, Hanks uncovers secrets along the way—some unexpectedly wonderful, others darker and more violent than she imagined—that raise more questions than answers. Her journey takes her from White Sands National Park to New Orleans, the Texas-Mexico border to the Florida panhandle, where she encounters the diverse people who inhabit these places. Through this account, Hanks explores how the stories tied to the places we come from shape the narratives of who we are, reckoning with the past, the present, her memories, and herself.