The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road

From Vanity Fair and The New York Times contributor comes a beautifully written, deeply felt memoir recounting the solo, cross-country journey she made along the Ten across the American southwest: a mission to uncover both what harrowing violence may or may not have happened to her late mother, but also, to look within and discover who she herself is—where her mother ends and she begins.

Description

In her trusted loaded-up minivan “Minnie,” E.A. Hanks follows the same route as a long-ago road trip with her mother in an attempt to better understand the complicated woman who gave her life. Along the way, as she follows her mother’s diaries and her own recollections of the route, she begins to uncover secrets—some unexpectedly wonderful, and others darker and more violent than she ever imagined—that bring more questions than answers.

From the quiet expanses of White Sands National Park to the bustling streets of New Orleans, and the Texas-Mexico border to the swamps of the Florida panhandle, she interacts with the amazing breadth and diversity of the people that call these places home. Reckoning with the past, the present, her memories, and herself, Hanks brings us along a beautiful voyage towards understanding how the stories we tell about the places we’re from ultimately become the stories we tell about the people we are.

By

E.A. Hanks

Buy from

Amazon, US Gallery, Simon and Schuster Barnes & Noble IndieBound

Testimonials

“I cannot thank Isy enough for her utter belief in my first book, ‘Behind The Gloss,’ from the moment she met me and for holding my hand on this new journey. Not only that, but before I could take a breath there was another book deal on the table. I had two books published in 2023 and I have two new books publishing in 2025 and 2026.”

Tamara Sturtz-Filby, Creative Authors Client