Hi all,
As you may already know, I’m already a big fan of Catherine
Ryan Hyde’s work. So, it will come as no surprise to you that I loved her latest
novel, HEAVEN ADJACENT. Honestly, if I had to chose my favorite book of hers to
date – this would be it. Beautifully written, honest, heartfelt, and realistic.
I loved this one! Below is more about this novel and my review.
Heaven Adjacent
Catherine Ryan Hyde
Book Description:
From New York Times bestselling author
Catherine Ryan Hyde comes a bittersweet novel about healing old wounds and
finding a new place to call home…
Roseanna Chaldecott spent her life as a high-powered lawyer
in Manhattan. But when her best friend and law partner dies suddenly, something
snaps. Unsure of her future, Roseanna heads upstate on one tank of gas and with
no plans to return.
In the foothills of the Adirondacks, Roseanna discovers the
perfect hideout in a ramshackle farm. Its seventy-six acres are rich with
possibilities and full of surprises, including a mother and daughter squatting
on the property. Although company is the last thing Roseanna wants, she
reluctantly lets them stay.
Roseanna and the young girl begin sculpting junk found
around the farm into zoo animals, drawing more newcomers—including her
estranged son, Lance. He pleads with Roseanna to return to the city, but she’s
finally discovered where she belongs. It may not provide the solitude she
originally sought, but her heart has found room for much more.
Publish Date: June 19, 2018
Lake Union Publishing
Preorder now on Amazon
My 5-Star Review:
Rosanna has a high-powered job and everything that money can
buy but when her best friend passes away suddenly, Rosanna has second thoughts
about the life she is living. On a drive outside of the city, she comes upon a
run-down farm that calls her name. A place to be alone and rethink her life.
But after buying it, she finds she is not alone. Other people are drawn to her
little piece of heaven too. And when her son shows up on her doorstep, wondering
what has gotten into her, she isn’t sure how to answer. Can she return to her empty
city life, or is the little farm her destiny?
Beautifully written, heartfelt, sometimes humorous, honest.
These words describe this latest story by Catherine Ryan Hyde. She touches a
nerve here, giving the reader something to think about. Are you living your
life to its fullest? Rosanna isn’t sure she is, and we follow her as she
struggles with the changes going on around her. Changes occurring by her recent
loss, by the people who are now surrounding her, by her trying to reconnect
with her grown son. But the author does this in a way that entertains, makes
you smile, and maybe even cry. This is Catherine Ryan Hyde at her best. Highly
recommended.
About the Author:
Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of thirty-three published
books. Her bestselling 1999 novel, Pay It Forward, adapted into a
major Warner Bros. motion picture, made the American Library Association’s Best
Books for Young Adults list and was translated into more than two dozen
languages for distribution in more than thirty countries. Her novels Becoming
Chloe and Jumpstart the World were included on the
ALA’s Rainbow List; Jumpstart the World was also a finalist
for two Lambda Literary Awards and won Rainbow Awards in two categories. The
Language of Hoofbeatswon a Rainbow Award. More than fifty of her short
stories have been published in many journals, including the Antioch
Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, the Virginia
Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, and
the Sun, and in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories and California
Shorts, as well as the bestselling anthology Dog Is My Co-Pilot.
Her short fiction received honorable mention in the Raymond Carver Short Story
Contest, a second-place win for the Tobias Wolff Award, and nominations
for Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Award, and the
Pushcart Prize. Three have also been cited in Best American Short
Stories.
Hyde is the founder and former president of the Pay It
Forward Foundation. As a professional public speaker, she has addressed the
National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with
AmeriCorps members at the White House, and shared a dais with Bill Clinton. An
avid equestrian, photographer, and traveler, she lives in California.
