Review - Come Back to the World

Title:  Come Back to the World

Author:  Catherine Ryan Hyde

Publisher:   Lake Union Publishing

Genre:   Women’s Fiction 

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   297

Date of Publication:   May 5, 2026

My Rating:   3 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

A single mother strives to understand the enigma of a reclusive novelist in a poignant novel about belonging, secret lives, and the want to disappear by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Amelia Booker, a journalist and expert in American literature, receives a photograph leading to the possible whereabouts of E.L. Swann, an author who vanished forty years ago after the success of her first and only novel. It’s too intriguing a literary mystery for Amelia not to follow.

In Santa Rosarita, Mexico, Amelia and her seven-year-old son, Jaden, meet the elderly and guarded Ella Steinbach, known to locals for riding her donkey to market, then retreating from the world again to her hilltop house. Prickly and defensive at first, Ella reluctantly concedes the truth about her identity. If not for Ella’s deep affection for the bright and introverted Jaden, she would have found the intrusion unforgivable. Instead, she grants an interview on the condition that Amelia tell no one where E.L. Swann has been found.

As days turn into weeks, and Ella reveals more than expected about her past, she and Amelia form a difficult but surprising bond. From it comes the realization that the personal struggles we endure determine the necessary choices we make to move forward. But no matter how much Amelia tries to convince her otherwise, E.L. Swann really does wish to be left alone. And only by accepting the author as she is can Amelia maintain the life-changing connection.

MY THOUGHTS:

Amelia is more than a journalist. She is also an expert in American literature. She becomes obsessed with finding an author who all but dropped out of existence decades ago. The author’s name is E.L. Swann and Amelia has a clue that she is in Mexico. So, she and her young son Jaden take the trip. Knowing nothing about the country and although she is concerned for Jaden’s safety, Amelia begins to dig for E.L.’s whereabouts. 

She finds the author, but interviewing her is not something that goes smoothly. E.L.is prickly. Untrusting. Yet more than intriguing to Amelia. Okay, she will consent to an interview, but makes Amelia agree to the condition that she tells no one of her whereabouts. Although E.L. certainly had her reasons for disappearing, the bond she shares for Amelia - and Jaden - is almost instantaneous. 

I enjoyed Amelia’s journey. As a single mother to Jaden her concern for the shared custody she has with his father came through the pages. This helped her to not be a hard-nosed journalist, but a hard-working mother. This is my first book by Catherine Ryan Hyde and I will definitely be back for more. 

Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing  and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of more than 50 published and forthcoming books.

She is co-author, with publishing industry blogger Anne R. Allen, of How to be a Writer in the E-Age: a Self-Help Guide.

Her bestselling 1999 novel Pay It Forward was made into a major Warner Brothers motion picture. It was chosen by the American Library Association for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than two dozen languages for distribution in over 30 countries. Simon & Schuster released a special 15th anniversary edition in December of ’14. 

Pay It Forward: Young Readers Edition, an age-appropriate edited edition of the original novel, was released by Simon & Schuster in August of ‘14. It is suitable for children as young as eight.

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