An unforgettable novel about the power of friendship and kindness by the New York Times bestselling author of Pay It Forward.
In the summer of 1969, fourteen-year-old Lucas Painter carries a huge weight on his shoulders. His brother is fighting in Vietnam. His embattled parents are locked in a never-ending war. And his best friend, Connor, is struggling with his own family issues. To find relief … own family issues. To find relief from the chaos, Lucas takes long, meandering walks, and one day he veers into the woods.
There he discovers an isolated cabin and two huge dogs. Frightened, he runs. And the dogs run with him. Lucas finds unusual peace in running with the dogs, and eventually he meets their owner, Zoe Dinsmore. Closed off and haunted by a tragic past, Zoe has given up. She doesn’t want to be saved. She wants out. But Lucas doesn’t want her to go, and he sees an opportunity to bring more than one friend back into the light. It’s either the best or worst idea he’s ever had, but Lucas isn’t giving up on Zoe or Connor.
Their unexpected connection might be the saving grace that Zoe thought she’d lost, that Connor needs, and that Lucas has been running toward.
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A hard thinking book.
Interesting characters living difficult lives in very turbulent times. The relationships are more real than you normally get in a novel, but it is exactly what you expect from this author!
A raw, human tale about mistakes, forgiveness, and the family we choose versus the family we are born to.
The characters and plot are realistic. We all encounter problems growing up, and even when we are grown, we need others to listen to us to help solve the problems live throws at us.
Stay by Catherine Ryan Hyde was a thought provoking and honest book. It is told from the perspective of a fourteen year old, but from the adult version of himself telling about what happened when he was fourteen. It touches on dysfunctional families, depression, suicide, the Vietnam War, addiction and how the perspective we have from inside ourselves may not be reality. There was a great deal of tragedy in this book, but also hope. I would recommend this book, but not if you are looking for a feel good light read. It is a book that will make you think.
Love this author, but this story was a bit slow and not up to the usual great reads.
Friendship, love, and understanding, that’s what Catherine shows us in Stay.
Lucas is dealing with a lot of things in his house, the only time he ever feels free is running with those big dogs around the woods. they’ve become part of his life as well as their owner, helping Lucas to understand more of what is happening around his life..
Connor is a great friend to Lucas, people often see him as weak but not Lucas, he is the only one who sees Connor as he is a kind soul that has been misunderstood. he needs friendship, love and a brother that will never let him down..
The journey of this magnificent story is one that will show you the greatest joy to have an amazing friendship such as Lucas and Connor, they both end up getting so much help from that lady who owns the gorgeous huge dogs.
Zoe is a lost soul hunted by her memories and past. she has been living alone in the woods for the last couple of years. She prefers to be by herself with her dogs, not bothering anybody in town she encounters two gentle boys who are “lost” and needed someone to guide them home again.
Zoe, Connor, and Lucas made an amazing friendship, each one of them has something missing in their life, specially the warm and the caring of a family but they have been brought together for something and now it is time for them to discover what is that.
Stay is a journey of understanding and persistence, embracing and loving people just as they’re. it is a story of hope and never give up. where there are loneliness and solitude there is always someone willing to love.
I’m really enjoying so much Catherine’s books.
Catherine Ryan Hyde never disappoints. In “Stay” she has crafted a book that is a coming-of-age story as well as a story about offering grace and forgiveness to one another. Throw in a Vietnam veteran, two adorable dogs, one sweet kitten, and characters that leap off the page, and you have a fine story.
Highly recommend.
Note: Minor language used in only a couple of places.
Another great book by this author!
Catherine Ryan Hyde knows how to write magic. Once you open the covers of one of her books, your lost. Stay was no exception. I loved this story! At times, I felt my heart would stop from all the emotions I felt coming from the characters they were so real.
This book contained so much love, pain, anger, grief….so much emotion, I can’t believe the covers could hold it all.
Can a single choice change the direction of your life.? This is what young 14 year old Lucas faces as he struggles to help his friends and family through their life’s difficulties.
The Authors usual stellar writing, exceptional characters and real life plot earns more than a 5 star rating, but alas 5 stars is all I can give.
A must read, well worth your time.
I love the way this author brings her characters to life! I enjoyed reading this story.
Just loved this book. So happy to find a new author I love!
I received a free electronic ARC of this exceptional historical novel from Netgalley, Catherine Ryan Hyde, and Lake Union Publishing. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. ‘Stay’ is an excellent tale centered on the baby boomer generation, but also paints special pictures and insights into the ’60s and ’70s for our children and grandchildren. This is the best, most honest profile of the growing pains of our generation that I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
Catherine Ryan Hyde always hits it out of the ballpark. ‘Stay’ is no exception – within just a few pages you are invested in the lives and problems of these special characters. Each protagonist is so easily pictured there are almost no bad guys – because you understand where they are coming from, as clearly as you do the sympathetic personalities. This a perfect slice of life in my history, and that of many boomers out there.
This coming-of-age story is told looking back from the present to the youth of 14-year-old Lucas Painter, beginning in the summer of 1969 just two days before school was out for the summer. 1969 was a tumultuous time in the United States, and the pros and cons of that turmoil are presented in an unbiased and understanding manner. We see how the individual decisions made then have affected a couple of subsequent generations, and what makes up a family, the need for truth and loyalty, and most of all, forgiveness. This was an all-nighter. It is a novel I will want to read again in the not to distant future – these are people I will enjoy visiting again.
Beautiful, just beautiful. In 1969, 14-year-old Lucas is dealing with being a teenager, parents that can’t get along, his brother in Vietnam, and a best friend who doesn’t leave the house. When it all gets to be too much, he heads to the woods where he encounters two dogs that look scary, but only want to run with him. When Luke saves the life of the dogs’ owner’s life, he not only finds himself with someone else to watch out for, but with the one adult who is honest and looks out for him, despite not wanting to be involved.
Lucas is one of those people that takes care of people. He is honest, caring, and has a strong sense of what is right. He is loyal to those he cares about. He makes choices that, though he doesn’t realize it at the time, alter the course of more than his life.
This novel is well-written with intricately and fully developed characters. It will pull you in and tug at your heartstrings. On one hand, my heart broke for all that Lucas went through; on the other I cheered him on. STAY is a wonderful novel that I recommend to anyone.
Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
#Stay #CatherineRyanHyde #LakeUnion Publishing
Great characters with a heart-felt look at some difficult subjects. My only complaint is that the concluding chapter, where we learn “what ever happened to…?”, seemed to drift off course and ramble a bit. Still well worth a read.
Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Stay” by Catherine Ryan Hyde, December 3, 2019
Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of “Stay” has written a captivating, emotional, intriguing, memorable and enthralling novel. The Genre for this story is Fiction. The timeline for this story is around 1969 and the Vietnam War and goes to the past and future when it pertains to the characters or events. The author describes the colorful and dramatic cast of characters as complex, complicated, quirky and dysfunctional.
This is a coming of age story, and the themes of this story are family, friendship, kindness, forgiving and acceptance and communication. The author also discusses issues such as drug addiction, war, mental illness, and love and hope. I love the importance of animals in this story.
Catherine Ryan Hyde is an amazing storyteller and writes in a descriptive and vivid way. Lucas Palmer is 14 years old, and worries all the time about his brother, who is in Vietnam, his neighbor and friend Connor, who has problems, and his parents who are always fighting. Feeling frustrated and runs into the woods and soon discovers two large dogs that wind up running with him. He meets their owner, Zoe, an older woman with a tragic past. Little does Lucas know, that one kind, compassionate and brave action on his part, will lead to helping Lucas and the people he cares about.
I would highly recommend this thought-provoking novel.
A book that deals with the decisions and the connections that are made that effect the lives of beautiful heart warming characters that only Catherine Ryan Hyde can create! Absolutely a beautiful five star must read!
Catherine has written another heartfelt story, full of troubled, caring people—people who are in need of love and understanding. Stay is the perfect example of how, when it’s all said and done, humans should treat other humans. We should all befriend those who may not seem to want or need friends, because you know what, everyone can use a good friend.
Throughout the whole story, the word ‘stay’ takes on so many different meanings and applies to so many situations. It really becomes the central theme and made me think of the people that I want and need to stay in my life.
This author writes with such beautiful and flowing words, words that are easy to settle into and savor to the end. Fans of Catherine Ryan Hyde will not be disappointed with this story and I know you will enjoy Stay as much as I did.
Stay is the coming of age story of a boy, Lucas Painter, in 1969. This is the point in his life where he becomes a man, even though he feels inadequate and responsible for so much more than should be on his 14-year-old shoulders. He finds peace when he begins to run one day in the woods near his house and happens upon two huge dogs by an old cabin that begin to run with him daily. The dogs, Rembrandt and Vermeer, give unconditional love and support, as is their nature.
He soon meets their owner, Zoe Dinsmore and from that point, his life takes the path to become the person he was meant to be.
I do not want to write more details of the storyline. I think this book should be read not knowing more than that, but I will say that this story is about the ups and downs of life. Finding strength that you never knew you had. Going on when you lease want to. What it is to be a friend. Finding a way to feel worthy to go on when deep inside you don’t believe that can ever happen.
The characters are so life-like with admirable qualities and flaws. The town and woods are etched in my mind by the wonderful descriptions. The (characters) people of this book are now a part of my life. They will not leave my memory for a long time.
There is so much wisdom is written in this story. So much of it touched my heart and soul. I wanted to read fast to find out what was going to happen and I also did not want it to end! I cannot express how much I love this book! I want everyone to read it! I want it to become a movie, so the non-readers out there can experience this story also. I wish I could give this book more than just 5 stars!
I want to thank NetGalley.com and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to read the ARC for this amazing book. Catherine Ryan Hyde is an excellent storyteller. I wanted to write my opinion in hopes others will also discover this author and enjoy her books.
Stay by Catherine Ryan Hyde is an incredible read. It’s so good that I think everyone should read it. There’s something here for everyone, including teenagers.
The story centers on Lucas who carries the weight of everyone in his life on his shoulders. He feels everything so deeply and worries about everyone. The characters in this book are so very well done that if they walked into my house I wouldn’t be surprised. The story of Lucas and Zoe is so very heartwarming…..but all the interwoven stories are.
I don’t know how Catherine Ryan Hyde continues to produce book after book that are must reads, but she really does and I hope she never stops.
Pick this up. I don’t care who you are, pick this up. Give it to friends and read it again!
Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC at my request. All thoughts in this review are mine and gratefully given. This book touched me deeply.
Lucas is a fourteen-year-old boy whose good friend, Conner, is depressed. He has parents who are fighting, His older brother is in Vietnam. Set in 1969, this is a coming of age story. Lucas runs with a couple of dogs who live with a woman named Zoe. Catherine Hyde is masterful in her writing about life’s problems. Lucas is there for everyone, I loved the characters and how the story is developed. I think this book would be a great bookclub read. I know I am going to suggest it to mine,Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review,