Don't Let Me Go

by Catherine Ryan Hyde

[Leah]

I’m a big fan of Catherine Ryan Hyde, since I read When I Found You back in 2009. It was a brilliant, brilliant novel, a stunning work of fiction and I really enjoyed Second Hand Heart when it was released last year. I couldn’t wait for her new book Don’t Let Me Go, and when Catherine offered me the chance to read a proof copy I jumped at it. She’s such a good storyteller and Don’t Let Me Go confirms that – I wasn’t meant to sit and read it one afternoon, but once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down!

Initially, I struggled to really get a feel for Don’t Let Me Go. However, after 10 or so pages, once I’d bedded myself in, I got lost in the book. It’s the kind of novel that makes you think. It’s the kind of novel that makes you happy. I know that probably sounds strange – after all, Grace is living with a drug-addicted mother so her life is hardly a bed of roses, and then there’s Billy Shine who’s never left his apartment for over 12 years. But the spirit of the novel and the way it’s written is just amazing. I felt as if I was a part of the block of apartments where Grace lived, where Billy lived, where Rayleen, Felipe and Mrs Hinman lived.

The community spirit and the way in which Grace changes her neighbours lives made me smile. Grace is the most boisterous and fun-loving 10-year-old you’ll ever fictionally meet. Despite the fact her life isn’t perfect, she makes the best of it. She’s clever, she’s brave and she’s infectious. The way she inveigles herself into the lives of her neighbours, mostly Billy, but also Rayleen Felipe and Mrs Hinman is something to behold. It goes to show that four total strangers can band together to try and help a kid not end up another statistic in the system. Because there are genuinely people like that in the world and it’s spirit like that that makes you believe there is good in a world that’s continually filled with bad. Grace really made the book. She just bowls everyone else away and she’s like the Tasmanian Devil the way she asserts herself and knows exactly what she has to do to get her mum clean.

The characters in Don’t Let Me Go are amazing. I adored Grace. Seriously. Man, I want a kid like that. To make the best of a bad situation, to ask Billy to teach her to dance, to ask Felipe to teach her Spanish. She knew no bounds and it was a thrill to read. When I read the synopsis I did worry about Billy Shine, worrying he was a bit of a weirdo and although he is a bit weird (as Grace continually tells him), he’s not a weirdo. He’s just a man whose life was over-run by panic. Which happens. A lot. I felt sympathy for him, but never pity and Grace changes his life in ways no one – not even Billy – could imagine. I thought the motley crue of other neighbours was a perfect mix. Rayleen, who’s like a substitute mother for Grace; Felipe, who happily teaches Grace Spanish; Mrs Hinman, who makes Grace clothes. Even Mr Lafferty, who buys Grace the wood she needs to learn to dance at Billy’s. They all form a little family for Grace, and there are no words for people like that, words are inadequate.

Despite it’s slow start, I quickly got into Don’t Let Me Go. I was wrapped up the entire time, wondering if Grace would succeed in her mission to get her mum clean, wondering what would happen to Grace, who certainly didn’t deserve to end up in the system. I felt so connected to the plot, to the characters. This novel would make an insanely good film. I very much would recommend Don’t Let Me Go, it’s right on par with When I Found You, which is my favourite Catherine Ryan Hyde novel so far. Grace and Billy’s stories will have you entranced and Grace will crawl right into your heart and not let go – not that you’ll want her to. Catherine Ryan Hyde really knows how to tell a story, I mean she’s a genius and Don’t Let Me Go is Catherine Ryan Hyde at her utter best. It was a magnificent read and I’m already wondering when I’ll read it again. Because I miss Grace. Already.