Interlinked

Stay by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a powerful story set over the summer of 1969. It consumed me from the start and filled my heart with love.

The story is told from a fourteen year old boy’s point of view in the first person. We really feel that we ‘know’ him. He is kind and cares deeply about those around him. He is loyal with a huge capacity to love. He champions the underdog and he does not judge.

We witness the damage that others inflict on lives when they judge. If you have not walked a mile in the shoes of another, you cannot possibly know them and you have no right to ever judge them.

Choices we make today will impact tomorrow. Our choices have consequences for us and those around us. If we had chosen differently, life may well have been dramatically altered. We are all interconnected.

When we have people who care for us and people for whom we care, life has a purpose and meaning.

1969 was at the height of the Vietnam War. We see how it impacts the lives of those who have to go and fight, and those who are left behind.

Returning soldiers never come home whole – sometimes it is a physical loss, sometimes it is a mental loss.

The sense of family is strong – family is not necessarily blood relatives but those who love us.

I loved the bond with the two dogs. As they ran through the forest, there was a joi de vivre.

I absolutely loved Stay. I always love Catherine Ryan Hyde novels as they speak to my heart and soul.

I received a free copy via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON