INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOK
Publisher : Astra House
Publication date : November 10, 2026
Format: Hardcover, audiobook, and ebook
Print length : 256 pages
Genre: Fiction
MY PERSONAL OPINION OF “Roadshow” by Nikki Ervice
Thank you to NetGalley and Astra House for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I read the premise of the book and felt this would be an interesting story, and I was not disappointed. The story is centered on Annie, a bartender and dancer living in New York, who receives a letter from her dying mother. Vera, her mother, abandoned her and her Dad when Annie was just a baby. She never reached out to her until now. Annie is in her mid-thirties, and upon some pressure from her lover/coworker, she embarks on a cross-country road trip to meet her mother. With just short of $500.00, a lot of self-assurance, and her survival instincts, she takes us on an adventure of self-discovery (as we also get to know Vera), culminating in her arrival on an Alaskan island, where she was born. The hometown she left behind.
The book is truly a gem. It fluctuates between humor, sadness, courage, determination, and appreciation. At the end of the book, that is my best way to describe my feelings towards Annie: huge appreciation. There were definitely funny moments (including a ridiculous dog-faced mask that Annie uses on her dances), her numerous encounters with nice and not-so-nice people that she meets along the way, her reliance on herself to make the money needed to arrive at her destination, and her father’s ashes waiting for her back in NY; there was a lot, but all done with great detail, and at the right times.
This is a debut novel, and the writer, Nikki Ervice, wrote with so much sweetness towards Annie, respect towards the incredible landscape, and care and honestly for the strangers found along the way. The end was fantastic, providing us closure, but at the same time, hope- hope for Annie’s future.
PREMISE OF THE BOOK AS FOUND IN AMAZON / GOODREADS:
Annie is burning out. She performs at Club X as Dog-Faced Girl, a burlesque act in which she hides her face behind a dog mask. It’s the only way she can dance—her greatest love—while making enough money for rent. But when she receives an unexpected letter from her estranged mother, Vera, postmarked from the remote island in rural Alaska where Annie grew up, her world stops.
Annie’s mother abandoned her when she was only a few days old. Her father, a stoic, workaholic aluminum welder and fisherman, insisted on keeping her mother’s identity a secret. But now, on her deathbed, Vera wants to meet Annie. And with her father recently passed, Annie knows it’s time to return home. So she borrows a Buick LeSabre and sets out on an exhausting journey through the Midwest into Canada. On the road, Annie sleeps where she can. Her attempts at stripping are unsuccessful and humiliating. Her money dwindles. She begins to steal gas. For a thousand dollars she agrees to dance for a bachelor party at a private lodge on a remote lake. After a delirious, dangerous night that she barely survives, she finally crosses the border into Alaska. Not long after, the LeSabre gives out. Half-broken but drawn on inexorably by the threat of Vera’s death, and a visceral call of her homeland, Annie abandons the LeSabre and hitchhikes to the end of the highway system, across the bay, to the island of her birth, where Vera awaits.
Sexy and fast-paced yet deeply felt, Roadshow explores the power of passion, inheritance, legacy, and class, and the grueling, smiling work of the stage and the hospitality industry.
MY RATING: 4.25
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Roadshow: a Novel is Nikki Ervice debut novel.
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