Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Book Review: Heaven Adjacent by Catherine Ryan Hyde


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 ReviewMichigan Quarterly Review, the Virginia Quarterly ReviewPloughsharesGlimmer 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.


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