Abide with Me
A Novel
A small-town bad boy, forged into a man in the fires of Afghanistan, returns home, still burning with a romantic obsession nothing can quench.
As the fog lifts one morning, a lone soldier is walking home. Who is he? The sleepy, gossipy town of Hoosick Bridge, Vermont, has forgotten him, but it will soon remember. He is Roy Murphy, returning to face his violent, complicated reputation. Returning to Emma Herrick, descendant of Hoosick Bridge’s first family, who occupies its grandest, now decaying, house: the Heights.
Their intense and unlikely adolescent romance provided scandalous gossip for the town. The young lovers escaped Hoosick Bridge, but Emma remained Roy’s obsession long after they parted. Now Roy returns from Afghanistan a changed and extraordinary man who will stop at nothing to obtain a piece of the Herricks’ legacy.
As the fog lifts one morning, a lone soldier is walking home. Who is he? The sleepy, gossipy town of Hoosick Bridge, Vermont, has forgotten him, but it will soon remember. He is Roy Murphy, returning to face his violent, complicated reputation. Returning to Emma Herrick, descendant of Hoosick Bridge’s first family, who occupies its grandest, now decaying, house: the Heights.
Their intense and unlikely adolescent romance provided scandalous gossip for the town. The young lovers escaped Hoosick Bridge, but Emma remained Roy’s obsession long after they parted. Now Roy returns from Afghanistan a changed and extraordinary man who will stop at nothing to obtain a piece of the Herricks’ legacy.
Choose a format:
Buy from us:
- Simon & Schuster |
- 384 pages |
- ISBN 9781451667028 |
- March 2013
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Praise
“In their unsettling romance that crosses small town social lines as well as the oceans and continents between Vermont and Afghanistan, the lovers at the core of Abide with Me strip away all that is unnecessary as they seek the essence of true love: it may stumble, but it will always survive. Sabin Willett has written a passionate, gripping novel of modern tragedy and timeless love.”
– Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain
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“In their unsettling romance that crosses small town social lines as well as the oceans and continents between Vermont and Afghanistan, the lovers at the core of Abide with Me strip away all that is unnecessary as they seek the essence of true love: it may stumble, but it will always survive. Sabin Willett has written a passionate, gripping novel of modern tragedy and timeless love.”– Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain
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“Sabin Willett mines his settings of Afghanistan and smalltown New England with equal gusto. Abide with Me is a big, generous, tasty, funny, rich novel.”– Stewart O'Nan, author of The Odds: A Love Story
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“Hewn from the same emotional landscape as Wuthering Heights, Abide with Me pulses with the dark pain of lost love and obsession. In prose that glints and sparks like gunfire, Sabin Willett makes Roy Murphy a dangerously compelling 21st century Heathcliff, the haunted, driven boy from nowhere who returns battle-hardened from war in Afghanistan to stake his claim on the one who got away.”– Deborah Lawrenson, author of The Lantern
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“The insights and skill of the author, a Guantanamo Bay defense attorney, make Abide worth a read.”– People, 3 stars
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“Willet's reinterpretation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights adds a fresh contemporary take to a classic love story.”– Library Journal
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“Fiercely authentic . . . Masterfully blending small-town gossip with the inner obsessions of a quiet veteran . . . this is a compelling read.”– Booklist
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“A darkly compelling and unsettling romance...gutsy and occasionall lyrical...An unforgettable character. An unforgetable book.”– Laura Harrington, HeadButler.com
Read an Excerpt
ONE
July 10, 2009
After midnight, the kids in Hoosick Bridge and Williams-town were on their cell phones.
“Were you there?”
“That cemetery—you know the old one down Route Seven at Indian Massacre Road? Off to the right? Anyway Maggie saw it. Her and Blake and Robbie and Annie B. and them were down there to go drinking and walked in and saw the body. Dumped on the grass in front of the headstones.”
“A soldier in his uniform. Annie screamed and ran out of there pretty fast.”
“A soldier? Who?”
* * * *
The day began... see more
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Book Reviews
Reading Group Guide
This reading group guide for Abide With Me includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Sabin Willett . The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
Introduction Neither the fires of the war in Afghanistan nor the ongoing tragedy of life at the Heights can extinguish the spark ignited between Roy Murphy and Emma Herrick. In spite of their vastly different worlds, they are inextricably connected and unavoidably drawn into a hurricane of fatal attraction that will forever change everyone in its path. Inspired by Wuthering Heights, Abide with Me is an epic love story that will not let you go.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. On page 38, the captain tells Roy Murphy: “Murphy, we’re not different. Where it counts, I think we’re the same, you and me.” In what ways are they the same? What qualities do they share? In what ways is this statement a theme throughout the book?
2. Which character do you identify with the most or like the most? What are some of that character’s strengths? How does that character change or grow throughout the story? Is there a fatal flaw?
3. On page 64, Emm see more
Introduction
Introduction Neither the fires of the war in Afghanistan nor the ongoing tragedy of life at the Heights can extinguish the spark ignited between Roy Murphy and Emma Herrick. In spite of their vastly different worlds, they are inextricably connected and unavoidably drawn into a hurricane of fatal attraction that will forever change everyone in its path. Inspired by Wuthering Heights, Abide with Me is an epic love story that will not let you go.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. On page 38, the captain tells Roy Murphy: “Murphy, we’re not different. Where it counts, I think we’re the same, you and me.” In what ways are they the same? What qualities do they share? In what ways is this statement a theme throughout the book?
2. Which character do you identify with the most or like the most? What are some of that character’s strengths? How does that character change or grow throughout the story? Is there a fatal flaw?
3. On page 64, Emm see more
Video
Sabin Willett on the inspiration behind ABIDE WITH ME
Inspired by Wuthering Heights, the story of a small town bad boy forged by the fires of Afghanistan, with a romantic obsession nothing can kill.
Sabin Willett on the inspiration behind ABIDE WITH ME
