Editorial Content for Come Back to the World

Catherine Ryan Hyde's thought-provoking novels force readers to consider their lives and their own values and morals. Her latest, COME BACK TO THE WORLD, is filled with quiet retrospection and conversations about life. 

Amelia Booker is a journalist and an expert on everything E. L. Swann. Not only is she fascinated by the reclusive author, she actually wrote her thesis on Swann. Amelia has been searching for Swann because her life's mission is to find out even more about the mysterious writer. Why hasn't she written another book, and why has she chosen to disappear from public life?

So when friends of her soon-to-be-ex-husband send her a picture they took while in a small town in Baja, Mexico, and tell her that the elderly lady they saw at the local market could be E. L. Swann, she takes notice. Amelia's life is a bit chaotic. She is in the process of divorcing her controlling husband, Mark, and her seven-year-old son, Jaden, might be getting bullied at school. But she really wants to see if this mystery woman could be the famous author.

"In this quiet, introspective novel that questions the bonds we form with others, there is much to reflect on and consider.... COME BACK TO THE WORLD contains a multitude of questions and issues that are worthy of discussion and careful consideration."

So Amelia and Jaden head to Mexico. Getting there is just the first part of the adventure. At the hotel, the employees recognize the photo of the woman as someone who lives in a large house at the top of a hill overlooking the town. The driveway is pitted with huge potholes to discourage cars from attempting the drive. They explain that the woman comes into town once a week on her donkey to visit the local market. Amelia summons the courage to walk with Jaden up the long steep drive. Both are parched (they didn't bring water) and exhausted by the time they arrive at the front gate. She knocks, and as they are met by an angry lady who says she is most definitely not E. L. Swann, her son succumbs to Montezuma's Revenge and throws up all over the lovely patio.

The woman, Ella Steinbach, allows them in. For some reason, which we never completely understand, she is smitten by Jaden. She begrudgingly offers to let them stay until the boy’s health improves as he is in no condition to be moved. She even calls the local doctor to treat him. When Jaden begins to feel better, he meets and is enchanted by Francisco, a huge, very friendly donkey.

But in a surprising turn of events, Ella doesn't want them to go. By this time, Amelia has found evidence that she really is E. L. Swann. If they stay, Ella says she will allow Amelia to interview her. But she has very strict rules to which Amelia must agree. The most important one is that Amelia can never let anyone know where Ella lives, and nothing in the interview can indicate where she is. After Amelia gets enough information for her article, she is ready to leave, but Ella convinces her to stay a bit longer. She admits that Jaden is her muse, and she has started writing again because of him.

What is fascinating and intriguing about the manner in which Hyde portrays the famous author is that she sugarcoats nothing. Ella is prickly, reserved and self-centered. There is not much to like about her except that she takes good care of her donkey and adores her cats. She also seems to love Jaden. They have conversations about issues that Amelia, when she overhears them, wishes he had talked to her about. The young boy and the octogenarian writer have a definite connection.

Ella tells Amelia that she likes being alone because then no one is trying to define her. And that's a universal truth; we are always judging others. There's a reason that our blood pressure is lower when we are petting a dog or cat, but not when we are with another person. People judge; dogs and cats don't. She explains, “The readers who thought I changed their lives believed I had something inside me that they needed. And the problem with that, of course, is that they have to tear me apart to get at it.”

Ella hates the feeling that being a public figure means that she belongs to the public and not to herself. Instead of being able to have conversations that go back and forth, like equals, she is bombarded with the same questions about where her ideas come from and how she develops her characters. By leaving society and living in solitude, she can do whatever she wants and not feel obligated to others.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Catherine Ryan Hyde shares some traits with the fictional author. Hyde told me that while she isn't as misanthropic as Ella in the novel, she is semi-reclusive and extremely introverted: “I don't put people down, but I do like it when they're at a certain distance.” Unlike Ella, Hyde was able to explain a bit about her writing process: “I would say she's an extreme example of some things I've experienced. And that's usually the way I take something I understand and turn up the volume on it.” Hyde also shared that the feelings Ella experienced about what she put up with from readers is similar to what Hyde felt during the PAY IT FORWARD phenomenon: “It felt good to get some of that off my chest.”

There is no happy ending, but these characters' lives have been changed by the encounter, and all for the better. Amelia, though, can't reconcile the connection that they had during that short time they lived together with the truth that Ella really wants to be left alone. One of the takeaways from this situation is that people are who they are. Sometimes we can change, but often we don't want to (because we are happy with who we are), or we are not able to change for some reason. 

When we help people, are they obligated to show us gratitude and affection? Is true generosity giving and not expecting anything in return? Is the human need for lasting relationships so strong, in some of us, that not communicating seems impossible? Do successful authors owe their readers answers to questions? In this quiet, introspective novel that questions the bonds we form with others, there is much to reflect on and consider. Why do some people thrive on being the center of attention while others abhor it?

COME BACK TO THE WORLD contains a multitude of questions and issues that are worthy of discussion and careful consideration.