Monday, October 1, 2018

Book Review - Heaven Adjacent by Catherine Ryan Hyde


ABOUT THE BOOK:

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.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of more than 30 works. Besides the about to be released Heaven Adjacent she also wrote the novel Pay it Forward. If that name sounds familiar it’s because it was the movie that featured Haley Joel Osment and Helen Hunt. Another book that Hyde released is a photo book of the photographs she has taken.

When Hyde isn’t writing she likes to hike, travel, ride horses, and of course take photographs.

MY REVIEW:

This book is about a woman who does something I think a lot of us would like to do...leave our hectic lives and live a simple, quiet life on our own terms.

Roseanna is a very successful lawyer in New York City. She has lived a driven life all about getting to the top of the ladder and she has sacrificed many things in her life to achieve this success. She is the owner/partner with her friend and they both dream of the day when they can retire. Everything they do revolves around getting to retirement. When her friend dies one day in the boardroom of a stroke two years before she's going to retire, it sets Roseanna on this new course of living life to the fullest now.

We follow along as Roseanna finds an out of the way farm where she can live a solitary life, however, things don't quite work out the way she planned. She has others that come to her land wanting to live the same type of life. She hasn't told anyone where she is in her old life, but they find out when a journalist does a magazine article about her. This is when her son shows up and they try to reconcile a relationship that was always put on the back-burner for Roseanna.

This is an interesting story line, however, it never really went anywhere for me. I felt like the characters were a little bit cardboard and there was never really any point to the story. I actually had a really hard time finishing the book. I know that this author is highly thought of so I will try another of her books in the future because I can see she is a good writer. This particular story just fell flat for me. I'm giving this book 2 out of 5 stars.

*This book was provided to me by Little Bird Publicity.  I received a copy of this book to review but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations while reading this book.


Blessings - Julie

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