Then there’s the road trip across America, from eastern Massachusetts to Los Angeles. In real life, we took the trip that Rory and Sara (well, mostly Sara) planned but could not execute. One MINI Cooper, two adult humans, one fifty-pound dog, lots of stuff. I did not know then that I would write this book (although I had a feeling it was on its way), but I knew a good research opportunity when I saw it. Billy—bless him!—did almost all of the driving . . . as I sat in the passenger seat, laptop open, staring out the window and touch-typing what I saw, hours on end, for the better part of two weeks.
“Near Quantico, cascades of wild wisteria over a period of about a mile, riotously, joyously strangling the trees they grow up, distracting us from their destructive powers by being both exotic and dainty at the same time.”
“Wild dogwoods here and there in the woods, pretty little exclamation marks in the green calligraphy of the woods.”
“Rain sprays up from the pavement, the windshield wipers make a high-toned sigh, like they have coal-miners lung.”
“Chattanooga feels like a Berkshire city with its corsets loosened.”
The eighty pages of notes are often stream-of-consciousness, sometimes maddeningly vague, sometimes absurdly specific. I went on and on about the degree to which different species of trees had leafed out in which states. I obsessed on the color of the clover on the side of the road, the color of the soil, the color of the pavement, the colors used for traffic-hazard signs in different states. I transcribed evangelical radio shows, diligently tracked the temperature and humidity, marked how the road dividers were spaced and what the license plates of each state looked like. (I also noted, in rather ridiculous detail, everything about my dog’s behavior in the car.) I did not know how I would ever use this information, but I was sure it would be useful somewhere.
And lo, it came to pass.
—Nicole Galland
Rory’s Road Trip Playlist
I HAVE A TENDENCY to ascribe songs to people, and I’ve been asked to do the same for the places on my road trip. So I said I’d give it a little go. Not even pretending this is comprehensive (or proportional), so don’t start chucking things at me please. Thanks.
—Rory O’Connor
“America” (Neil Diamond)—Obviously I had to get my arse to America before I could travel across it. This song chokes me up, and in fairness, the man has a unique voice, one of a kind.
“New England” (Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers)—The whole region is so small, it can be summed up in one song. This is that song. I always smile and chuckle when I hear it, and I’m always happy to be in this part of the country.
“New York City” (T. Rex)—Bet you thought I was going to say Sinatra or Billy Joel. In Ireland, Marc Bolan’s band was huge. Died too young, poor fella. He wrote some classics.
“Jersey Girl” (Tom Waits)—My girl is not a Jersey Girl, but she’s all I could think about when I was in Jersey.
“Delaware” (Perry Como)—As soon as I hear or read the name, this song pops into my head. And I am a sucker for bad puns. And I remember my aunties and uncles singing and dancing to it when I was growing up in Dublin.
“What’s New in Baltimore?” (Frank Zappa)—Perfectly captures my fractured, agitated mood as I was driving through Maryland. No offense, Maryland, it’s not your fault I was in the state I was in. So to speak.
“The Lees of Old Virginia” (1776)— I was in a production of 1776, and this song is an earworm. Corny as hell but so very catchy.
“Adagio of Sonata #1 in D Major” (Corelli)—This was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite piece, and seeing as how I associate it with Jefferson, and Jefferson with Virginia, this piece = Virginia.
“Tempie Roll Down Your Bangs” (Tommy Jarrell)—Nothing says North Carolina like some kick-ass Appalachian music.
“Oh Carolina” (the Shaggy version)—It’s not about the state, but it’s great crack!
“The Tennessee Waltz” (The Chieftains featuring Tom Jones)—Lovely song. Plus the lyrics boil down to: “Someone I trusted stole my female companion right out from under my nose.” Enough said.
“Chattanooga Choo Choo” (Glenn Miller Orchestra)—You can’t see the word Chattanooga without this song getting stuck in your head.
“Head’s in Georgia” (J. J. Cale and Eric Clapton)—Because my head was in Georgia while my feet were California-bound.
“Georgia on My Mind” (Ray Charles)—It was right there on the “Welcome” sign!
“Alabama” (Neil Young) and “Sweet Home Alabama” (Lynyrd Skynyrd)—Work it out, lads. I’m staying out of it.
“M.i.s.s.i.s.s.i.p.p.i.” (Ella Fitzgerald)—How could I pass up a chance to include Ella on a playlist?
“That’s How I Got to Memphis” (Tom T. Hall)—That is pretty much exactly how I got to Memphis.
“Arkansas Traveler” (the Pine Tree String Band version)—It’s about being in Arkansas, and traveling, and playing the fiddle, and rain bucketing down, so it’s a bit of a shoo-in.
“A Little Past Little Rock” (Lee Ann Womack)—She’s driving in the wrong direction, but she knows how to describe an unhappy road trip. And what a voice.
“Oklahoma!” (Rodgers & Hammerstein)—I starred in the show, I played Curly.
“Pretty Boy Floyd” (Woody Guthrie)—He was the Robin Hood of Oklahoma. I always had a soft spot for rebels.
“Rollin’ By” (Lyle Lovett)—If you’ve ever driven through Texas, you know why this is the song about driving through Texas.
“Breaking Bad Main Title Theme” (Dave Porter)—This perfectly captures what it feels like to drive through New Mexico.
“Willin’” (Little Feat)—Classic rock song about somebody driving through Arizona. Although, he had drugs, and I didn’t.
“Take It Easy” (Eagles)—It’s a good song for Arizona. “Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.” Need I say more?
“Home” (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes)—Because it’s true, home is wherever I’m with her.
Scan the below QR code to be linked to the Stepdog Road Trip playlist on Spotify!
Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe
Rory nicked this recipe from Nicole Cabot.*
Serves 4 hungry adults
Ingredients
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1½-inch cubes
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
2 Tbsp. Garam Masala
1 tsp. turmeric powder
½ tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. sweet paprika
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 small can tomato paste
1½ cups whole milk plain yogurt plus extra ½ cup for garnish
2 bay leaves
1 cup full-fat coconut milk (or cream)
Juice of half a lemon
Chopped cilantro for garnish
Directions:
1. Heat the coconut oil in large cast iron or other heavy skillet until shimmering. Add chicken in batches to brown. Set aside.
2. Add onion and olive oil to the skillet and cook on low heat 3–4 minutes until softened. Add garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute. Add all ground spices and cook 30 seconds on medium heat. Turn off heat.
3. Return chicken to pan. Coat with spices. Add tomato paste and yogurt and coat the chicken. Pour everything into a heavy, covered baking dish or Crock-Pot. Add bay leaves. Cook in a crock pot for 3 hours on low, or in oven at 300°F for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Check that temperature of chicken reaches 165°F.
4. Stir in the coconut milk or cream and lemon juice until warmed through. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve with basmati rice, naan bread, extra yogurt and chopped cilantro.
Read on
Have You Read? More by Ni
cole Galland
I, IAGO
I, Iago is an ingenious, brilliantly crafted novel that allows one of literature’s greatest villains—the deceitful schemer Iago from Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy, Othello—to take center stage in order to reveal his “true” motivations.
From earliest childhood, the precocious boy called Iago had inconvenient tendencies toward honesty—a failing that made him an embarrassment to his family and an outcast in the corrupt culture of glittering Renaissance Venice. Embracing military life as an antidote to the frippery of Venetian society, Iago won the love of the beautiful Emilia and the regard of Venice’s revered General Othello. After years of abuse and rejection, Iago was poised to achieve everything he had ever fought for and dreamed of. . . .
But a cascade of unexpected deceptions propels him on a catastrophic quest for righteous vengeance, contorting his moral compass until he has betrayed his closest friends and family and has sealed his own fate as one of the most notorious villains of all time.
Inspired by William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Othello—a timeless tale of friendship and treachery, love and jealousy—Galland’s I, Iago sheds fascinating new light on a complex soul, and on the conditions and fateful events that helped to create a monster.
GODIVA
Godiva is a crafty retelling of the legend of Lady Godiva.
According to legend, Lady Godiva lifted the unfair taxation of her people by her husband, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, by riding through the streets of Coventry wearing only a smile. It’s a story that’s kept tongues wagging for nearly a thousand years. But what would drive a lady of the court to take off everything and risk her reputation, her life, even her wardrobe—all for a few peasants’ pennies?
In this daringly original, charmingly twisted take on an oft-imagined tale, Nicole Galland exposes a provocative view of Godiva not only in the flesh, but in all her glory. With history exonerating her dear husband, Godiva, helped along by her steadfast companion the abbess Edgiva, defies the tyranny of a new royal villain. Never before has Countess Godiva’s ride into infamy—and into an unexpected adventure of romance, deceit, and naked intrigue—been told quite like this.
THE FOOL’S TALE
Wales, 1198. A time of treachery, passion, and uncertainty. Maelgwyn ap Cadwallon struggles to protect his small kingdom from foes outside and inside his borders. Pressured into a marriage of political convenience, he weds the headstrong young Isabel Mortimer, niece of his powerful English nemesis. Gwirion, the king’s oldest and oddest friend, has a particular reason to hate Mortimer, and immediately employs his royally sanctioned mischief to disquiet the new queen.
Through strength of character, Isabel wins her husband’s grudging respect, but finds the Welsh court backward and barbaric—especially Gwirion, against whom she engages in a relentless battle of wills. When Gwirion and Isabel’s mutual animosity is abruptly transformed, the king finds himself as threatened by loved ones as he is threatened by the many enemies who menace his crown.
A masterful debut by a gifted storyteller, The Fool’s Tale combines vivid historical fiction, compelling political intrigue, and passionate romance to create an intimate drama of three individuals bound—and undone—by love and loyalty.
REVENGE OF THE ROSE
An impoverished, idealistic young knight in rural Burgundy, Willem of Dole, greets with astonishment his summons to the court of Konrad, Holy Roman Emperor, whose realm spans half of Europe. Immediately overwhelmed by court affairs, Willem submits to the relentless tutelage of Konrad’s minstrel—the mischievous, mysterious Jouglet. With Jouglet’s help, Willem quickly rises in the emperor’s esteem . . .
. . . But when Willem’s sister Lienor becomes a prospect for the role of empress, the sudden elevation of two sibling “nobodies” causes panic in a royal court fueled by gossip, secrets, treachery, and lies. Three desperate men in Konrad’s inner circle frantically vie to control the game of politics, yet Jouglet the minstrel is somehow always one step ahead of them.
Astutely reimagining the lush, conniving heart of thirteenth-century Europe’s greatest empire, Revenge of the Rose is a novel rich in irony and wit that revels in the politics, passions, and peccadilloes of the medieval court.
CROSSED: A TALE OF THE FOURTH CRUSADE
In the year 1202, thousands of Crusaders gather in Venice, preparing to embark for Jerusalem to free the Holy City from Muslim rule. Among them is an irreverent British vagabond who has literally lost his way, rescued from damnation by a pious German knight. Despite the vagabond’s objections, they set sail with dedicated companions and a beautiful, mysterious Arab “princess.”
But the divine light guiding this “righteous” campaign soon darkens as the mission sinks ever deeper into disgrace, moral turpitude, and almost farcical catastrophe. As Catholics murder Catholics in the Adriatic port city of Zara, tragic events are set in motion that will ultimately lead to the shocking and shameful fall of Constantinople.
Impeccably researched and beautifully told, Nicole Galland’s Crossed is a sly tale of the disastrous Fourth Crusade—and of the hopeful, brave, and driven people who were trapped by a corrupt cause and a furious battle that were beyond their comprehension or control.
Also by Nicole Galland
The Fool’s Tale
Revenge of the Rose
Crossed
I, Iago
Godiva
Credits
Cover Design by Emin Mancheril
Cover phothgraph © by Isobel Flynn/Alamy
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
STEPDOG. Copyright © 2015 by Nicole Galland. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Photograph on title page and part openers by © greg801 via iStock.com
Golden Retriever Dog Photograph on title page and part openers by © Mikkel Bigandt via Shutterstock, Inc.
EPub Edition August 2015 ISBN 9780062369482
ISBN 978-0-06-236947-5
15 16 17 18 19 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
* Nicole Cabot is a private chef living on Martha’s Vineyard, where she also teaches school kids about gardens, farms, and food.
<
br />
Stepdog Page 33
