Emma Braza, a college junior from a fourth generation Eastern Washington winemaking dynasty, has aspirations, and the talent, to stay in the family business. She feels that she has the world on a string. She doesn’t realize that string can snap so quickly, so easily.
Emma’s father and older brother are certain that a woman should have no part in running a large company.
Unknowingly, she enters a roadside eatery during an armed robbery. Emma is kidnapped and raped and finally rescued. Her travail is national news. A year of therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is needed until she has the strength to return to school.
Trying to piece her life together with the help of her college roommate, Emma’s fears and notoriety prevent her from developing relationships. Emma, by chance, encounters a surgical resident from the local medical school. Initially coerced by Emma’s roommate, the young surgeon helps Emma navigate through a difficult recovery. In time, the young surgeon is able to overlook Emma’s past, when no one else will, and give her a needed sense of security. Their bond is tested by her family's bigotry and she is forced into making lose-lose life decisions. Funny, poignant and rich with compelling characters, The Road Back Isn’t Straight is an engrossing tale of deep sorrow and salvation.