Naomi Adams is the bedrock of the Adams family. She is haunted by the death of her two sons in a horrific car crash from which her daughter-in-law, Zoe, escaped with serious injuries. When Zoe, emotionally and physically damaged, walks away from her sons, Naomi and her husband step in to raise the two boys. Eight years later, Zoe initiates legal proceedings to reclaim her children and to become the mother she believes they need.

The rights and responsibilities of mothers and grandmothers are personified in the characters of Naomi and Zoe, but the novel’s strongest chapters deal with the confused thoughts and yearnings of the two young boys, Chris and Max. They are the products of youthful impetuosity and wilfulness, the pawns of love and fear, and convincing commentators on the world they inhabit: a tough and unforgiving place, bountiful in material possessions but spiritually barren, artlessly described by wise men aged eight and ten, respectively.  Mullane labours the novel’s debt to the Book of Ruth: ‘Nothing but death shall part us’ alerts the reader to the novel’s inspiration and philosophy. Further references to the Book of Ruth in the narrative are boring and do not add meaning to the story. The short, abrupt chapters may annoy some readers. Nevertheless, Once on a Road is a competent début novel that should find its readership, despite the odd marketing and packaging.