From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde comes an uplifting and poignant novel about friendship, trust, and facing your fears.No longer tolerating her husband’s borderline abuse, Faith escapes to her parents’ California beach house to plan her next move. She never dreamed her new chapter would involve befriending Sarah, a fourteen-year-old on the run from her father and reeling … her father and reeling from her mother’s sudden and suspicious death.
While Sarah’s grandmother scrambles to get custody, Faith is charged with spiriting the girl away on a journey that will restore her hope: Sarah implores Faith to take her to Falkner’s Midnight Sun, the prized black mare that her father sold out from under her. Sarah shares an unbreakable bond with Midnight and can’t bear to be apart from her. Throughout the sweltering summer, as they follow Midnight from show to show, Sarah comes to terms with what she witnessed on the terrible night her mother died.
But the journey is far from over. Faith must learn the value of trusting her instincts—and realize that the key to her future, and Sarah’s, is in her hands.
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This is both a most heart-wrenching and a heart-warming story. It’s about what happens to a young girl and a woman who meet by chance but become friends on an unconventional journey that leads each of them from the depths of despair to the joy of realizing what truly brings happiness.
Best-selling author Catherine Ryan Hyde is known for her touching and emotionally satisfying stories about friendship, trust, and empowerment. Her latest work, Just After Midnight, does not disappoint.
Faith has left her husband and taken up residence in her parents’ California beach house while she decides what she will next do with her life. Her husband was controlling, verbally abusive, and inflexible, and she fears how he will react to her departure.
One day she sees fourteen-year-old Sarah on the beach. She soon leaves that Sarah reeling from her mother’s sudden and suspicious death, and wants nothing to do with her father. She is staying with her grandmother, who does not have legal custody of Sarah. When they learn that Sarah’s father is too close for comfort, Faith agrees to take Sarah on a journey while her grandmother deals with the custody issue.
Sarah implores Faith to take her to Falkner’s Midnight Sun, her prized black mare that she misses desperately. Her father sold the horse without Sarah’s knowledge. Sarah shares an unbreakable bond with Midnight and can’t bear to be apart from her. Throughout the sweltering summer, as they follow Midnight from show to show, Sarah comes to terms with the truth about her mother’s death.
And Faith learns the value of trusting her instincts and understand that she has has the power to shape her own future, as well as Sarah’s.
Set on the Central California coast that Hyde calls home and knows so well, Just After Midnight is a beautiful story about a young woman and teen-age girl who come together and discover what matters most to them, as well as how to manifest their desires in their lives. Hyde writes beautiful stories about flawed human beings and relationships. In Just After Midnight, Sarah lost her mother at just after midnight one fateful night. And one of the relationships explored is that between Sarah and Midnight, a highly valuable, trained horse who simply will not perform for her new owner because of the bond the horse has forged with Sarah. At the outset, Sarah is literally just after Midnight — determined to do anything to keep the beautiful mare in her life, even if she cannot be the horse’s owner. It should be noted that it is unnecessary for the reader to have knowledge of horses or horse shows because Hyde explains the nuances and intricacies requisite to understanding the story points.
As Faith and Sarah meet and forge an unexpected friendship, both are grieving, and reeling from the changes that have upended their lives. Both are trying to discern what lies ahead for them. And both are poised to learn a great deal from each other and their adventure. That adventure spans horse shows up and down California, and Faith’s ever-growing appreciation not only of Sarah’s talent as a rider, but her intuitive nature and unbreakable, unconditional love for Midnight. In signature Hyde style, both Faith and Sarah grow from their shared experiences and become empowered, as a result of all they have been through separately and together, to name what it is they want most and seek it. Hyde’s characters are believable in their vulnerability, fear, and the damage inflicted upon them by others, as well as their resiliency and renaissance
over the course of a hot California summer.
The result is another poignant, uplifting, and emotionally satisfying tale from one of America’s most prolific and reliable authors. Just After Midnight will inspire readers’ faith in friendship, community, and human decency.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
This is only my second novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde, and it was just as beautiful and compelling as her last novel. Faith and Sarah are two people who need each other, both coming to terms with the next step in their lives. Thrown together unexpectedly, they get closer and learn to trust, while helping Sarah come to terms with both the loss of her mother followed by the loss of her beloved horse. The relationship Sarah has with Midnight, one of love and trust, is perfectly magical. They understand each other in ways no one else does.
There is so much depth to this book it’s hard to do it justice. It will remind you that there are still so many good caring people in the world. It will lead you through all the emotions and bring you to tears more than once. I look forward to Catherine Ryan Hyde’s next novel to see what she tackles next.
#JustAfterMidnight #CatherineRyanHyde #LakeUnion
Another great story by Catherine Ryan Hyde. The characters and story draw you right in.
As in all of this authors books, there are so many awesome and generous characters. Great lessons on dressage and equestrians in this one. Friendships made for life. Giving and caring for new found friends. So much warmth and love. A girl and her horse torn apart; can they find their way to each other again. Great read!!!!
Not knowing much about dressage this book gives a lot of insight into that world. It is a heart rendering story of a woman and a young girl brought together due to strife in their lives. Again, Catherine Ryan Hyde writes a book that will teach you something about life and people’s interactions.
Catherine Ryan Hyde’s novel is a beautiful story of a warm and caring friendship that develops between two unlikely people.
Sarah, 14, has recently lost her mother and her closest friend, her horse, Midnight. Faith, a thirty something women, has walked out on an abusive marriage. Both end up at the beach. Their loneliness and feelings of being disconnected draws them together.
The death of their respective mothers joins them together and marks the beginning of their friendship.
This heartwarming novel emphasizes the importance of connectedness and friendship. The characters are real and likable. I became invested in their story and rooted for a happy ending.
I highly recommend this novel.
Thank you to #Netgalley and #LakeUnionPublishing for approving my request. The opinions expressed are solely my own.
I was looking forward to reading Just After Midnight. I liked the premise but felt the characters were under-developed.. I also did not think it was believable for Catherine, Sarah’s grandmother, to allow Faith, who she just met, to take Sarah with her. I think this story might pass well as a young adult story but not adult fiction. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
This is the story of Faith and Sarah! A story of courage and second chances.
Sarah is dealing with the loss of her mom and her horse ( they have an incredible bond) and Faith is hiding from her mentally abusive husband , so he can be served with divorce papers !
These two took me on an incredible journey of trust and friendship and taught me a lot about horses along the way !
Catherine’s stories are always filled with wonderful, caring characters—people I would love to know in real life. Just After Midnight is a touching story of a girl, her horse, and a horrible secret she has been keeping. And a woman who wants and needs to be there for her.
It was amazing to see the relationship between Josie and Faith develop—complete strangers who were able to connect because of similar life experiences and because they each needed someone like the other one in their life. The loving, respectful relationship that Josie and Midnight had was also a beautiful thing to witness. As an added bonus, I learned so much about dressage training and all that goes into that type of competing. I love it when a story teaches me something I know little about.
As with all of Catherine’s books, Just After Midnight is full of emotion and feelings—emotions that will absolutely tug on your heart strings. You can’t help but become deeply involved in the lives of the characters and you only want the best for them.
Just After Midnight was an emotional novel. Fourteen-year-old Sarah’s mother has died and her horse was sold to someone by her father. Sarah is now staying with her grandmother. This is how Faith first meets Sarah and their lives become intertwined. Their lives seem to be running in a sort of parallel circumstances as time goes on. This story is full of deep emotions and tough circumstances. Faith is struggling with a difficult marriage. And Sarah has been through so much and lost so much that was important to her. As they spend time together, Faith is dealing with her own problems as well as helping Sarah with her losses. But perhaps as they form a friendship, Faith and Sarah can help each other.
This is one of the best books I have ever read! Catherine Ryan Hyde fantastically captures the relationship between a teenager, Sarah, and her prized horse…a horse the girl’s father has sold, leaving Sarah heartbroken. Sarah knows a secret about the death of her mother that puts she and family friend, Faith, on the run. Ryan Hyde is a pro at instilling conflict into this story that will make the reader avidly root for characters they have grown to love.
This is such a beautiful book. I finished it in less than day. The characters are all so well written and the two main characters experience so much growth by the end. The connection that grows between them is so real. Easily one of the best books in 2018!
If it’s by Catherine Ryan Hyde you know it’s going to be a beautiful story! In the midst of harsh tragedies will love win? Faith is in her own broken cross roads when she meets Sarah and Constance, will she do the right thing and help a stranger, will love win? Put this one top of your must read list and read it!
Sometimes we don’t know what the circumstance in our lives will lead us to. Events that change and people we meet who will change that course of where we thought our lives were going. This book took me on a journey that involved the equestrian world, the people who live in that world and the connection they have with their horses. This story is tension filled with parts that made my heart hurt so badly for Sarah.
Faith and Sarah are brought together out of unique events in their lives that drew them together. Faith notices Sarah when she is at her parent’s beach house and senses she needs someone to talk to. Sarah is drawn to Faith because she feels a bond of trust. This is the beginning of their summer “on the run”. They grow close and are able to confide their secrets to each other.
Ms. Hyde wrote such a strong bond in the story between Sarah and her horse, Midnight. I totally felt that bond and how strong they loved each other. It tore my heart apart when Sarah had to do some of the selfless things for her horse that she had to do. That’s what someone does who loves unconditionally. Even to the point of doing what’s best even though it’s tearing them apart. This quote was so fitting of that sentiment, “I think very often in life we do something important for someone else for no better reason than that they need us to. And really, when you think about it…what more reason is needed?”
I learned so much about horses, riding, and the equestrian world while reading this book. It’s fascinating and there’s so much more to it than I ever realized. The characters are wonderfully written and I became attached to them to the point I wanted to jump in the book and help find the answers. I totally enjoyed this read and the journey it took me on.
I want to thank Lake Union, Netgalley and Ms. Hyde for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This author for me has always written a good story, one that always keeps me involved. She always has a great message to portray, throughout the story,and of the people she is writing about.
This book centers around a 14 year old girl, Sarah and her horse midnight, Sarah’s grandmother Constance and Faith a woman running from her past and a controlling husband.
After a tragedy, these three meet and bond together first as strangers, but then as a team. It is a story of the girl devastated by the sale of her horse and the circumstances under which it happened.
Sarah and Faith develop a close bond, traveled together to search for Sarah’s horse, which she never got a chance to say goodbye to. They lean on each other for their mutual healing.
A lot of emotions fly back and forth in this book and we meet some wonderful characters through the journey.
Looking forward to her next book.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book
I think this would be a great book for a pre-teen teen/teenage horse crazy girl! As an adult, I found myself wondering about a few things that seemed a bit far-fetched – 1) why would Sarah’s grandmother let a complete stranger take her granddaughter? 2) why did Sarah seem more upset about her horse being sold than she did about her mom’s death? 3) Faith’s dad is really ok supporting his adult daughter (who doesn’t have a job or her own money) while she takes a kid she just met to follow a horse that used to belong to said kid? and 4) the ending (which I won’t go into detail about so I don’t spoil it…) Overall, I thought the book was okay.
This was a story about devastating losses and the consequences of those losses, but also about redemption, love, new friendships, and the ultimate kindness of strangers and friends alike. In the center of all this was fourteen year old Sarah. With her mother’s sudden death, Sarah’s life was shattered. Shortly thereafter, Sarah’s most beloved horse, Midnight, was sold by her gambling addict father. This second loss shattered her world. Yet, the kindness of strangers, and one in particular, Faith, enveloped themselves in Sarah’s world to offer support and love. They willingly gave of themselves, and made a positive impact on Sarah’s life and future.
This was a very well written inspirational story that will engage the reader from the first page.