Lillian H. Smith Blog

        Jim Hobbs is riding the subway one day when the power cuts out and he is badly jostled knocking his head.  After getting off the train, he decides to walk out of town.  The city had been getting to him anyhow.  After walking for a very long time and then hitchiking out west, he eventually winds up almost completely broke in the middle of nowhere.  He decides to squat at an abandoned cabin far from any proper road, and well down a not so beaten path.  Looking for work, he stumbles onto a farm called Majestic which as it turns out could use some help.

    The works is hard, but Jim is delighted.  The idea of living off the land and being outdoors, away from the skyscrapers and traffic is deeply appealing.  Also appealing is Miriam, one of the young woemn who lives at Majestic.  The only real problem is that Jim is not actually supposed to have anything to do with her.  Majestic is not a typical family farm, nor is it a business.  It is in fact a commune for religious zealots who like Jim, have had enough of the modern world.  But that is where the similarities end.  Jim gradually finds himself at odds with their lack of humour, their strict moral code and their harsh discipline.  That in itself is not a problem for him.  He's free to go anytime he chooses.  But that's hardly going to help Miriam.

    Road to bliss combines elements of a young man's spiritual journey, with a taut suspense plot