2007 Novel of the Year, Association for Mormon Letters
"This autobiographical novel illustrates beautifully the idea that it doesn't matter so much where we come from as where we choose to be. A valuable addition to Mormon literature."
2007 Novel of the Year, The Whitney Academy
"The Academy Award of Mormon fiction"
In a style reminiscent of and offering homage to Jack Kerouac, On the Road to Heaven traces an intimate pilgrimage to purpose across the geographic and cultural landscape of two continents in the late twentieth century. From the 1970s hippie heyday of the Colorado mountains to the coca fields of Colombia, it's a journey through Thoreau ascetics, Ram Dass Taoism, and Edward Abbey monkey-wrenching to the mission fields of one of the world's fastest-growing—and most trenchantly conservative—religions.
Few stories have ever described a more unusual road to redemption.
“An utterly original spiritual tale— lively, quirky, and profoundly moving. Think of it as
Terryl Givens, Ph.D.,
By the Hand of Mormon (
"Poetic and enchanting, Coke Newell's On The Road To Heaven is a romance odyssey of love and religion driven by the consumptive gravity of yearning and discovery. Honest and fearless, Newell has crafted for us the real power of gospel Mormonism."
Ronald O. Barney, author of One Side by Himself: The Life and Times of Lewis Barney, 1808-1894, winner of the Evans Biography Award, and an editor of the Joseph Smith Papers
“I have never read such a gripping story of conversion and missionary labor. It held me fast partly because of the winsome romance mixed into the story of a mountain hippie who finds life's meaning in Mormonism. But the gritty descriptions of friendship and adventure in the
Richard L. Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (Knopf, 2005)
"This is a tough, punch-packing tale written so well it sends shivers up my spine and tears down my cheeks. I hope he writes the sequel!
Marilyn Brown, author of The Earthkeepers, Shadow of Angels, Royal House
"Finally, a candid novel that breaks the narrative trail for the other pioneers in LDS history— first generation converts to the church— people who have often crossed their own social and spiritual
Patricia Karamesines. Author, The Pictograph Murders
“A rollicking, satisfying conversion story.”
—Tania R. Lyon, Ph.D.
Publisher’s Weekly, 6-25-07
"The title, epigraphs and style of this fictionalized memoir pay tribute to Jack Kerouac, a surprising muse for a story about a young man's Mormon conversion and two-year stint as a white-shirted Latter-day Saint missionary. Newell, for many years a media relations officer for the Latter-Day Saints, never criticizes his church's teachings.... Still, memoir readers as well as Mormons looking for a somewhat edgy affirmation of their faith will appreciate the lusty, brawling but tenacious missionaries and the tender love story in this sprawling coming-of-age tale."
“This is the book Jack Kerouac might have written had he met
Rodney Stark, Ph.D.
The Rise of Christianity (Princeton); Acts of Faith (
“Coke Newell [is] one of the most influential converts in late 20th century Mormon America. Yes, "On the Road to Heaven" has got the Kerouac road trip angle, and the hippie turns missionary angle, and the whole young people in love romance angle, but even though all that stuff is fun and well plotted and written, what makes the novel transcend its marketing copy is this simple formula: connection with nature leads to connection with deity leads to connection with people. Newell tells a good tale, but he also furthers Mormon discourse, beautifully illustrating how powerful and fragile this whole idea of finding God, of figuring out how this time-bound, messy, mortal existence all works -- what it means and what to do when you are fairly certain that you have some answers that make sense. And that he does it by linking the revelatory discourse of the mountain hippies with that of Mormons makes it all the more sweet. And fun.
William Morris, Editor, A Motley Vision