Read Learning to Stay Online

Authors: Erin Celello

Tags: #Fiction, #Family Life

Learning to Stay

BOOK: Learning to Stay
9.9Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Praise for the Novels
of Erin Celello

LEARNING TO STAY

“I was completely taken with this novel and its hauntingly real descriptions of what it means to welcome a loved one home from war when big pieces of them have been punched out…. What makes this gem of a novel so special is that it isn’t a book written for survivors or military audiences or any niche group; it is a universal and instructive tale of what it takes to dig down and find the good parts of a marriage, to fight not only for those you love but to be willing to make course corrections when life throws a curveball through your picture-perfect plans…. I dare anyone to read this book and not be fully absorbed and haunted by these two intricately drawn characters…. Celello has created a masterful mosaic of what PTSD can do to families.”

—Lee Woodruff,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Those We Love Most
and coauthor of
In an Instant


Learning to Stay
is a compelling novel about a soldier who returns from Iraq a much different man than the one who first deployed and the wife poised between staying in this suddenly volatile relationship or forging ahead on her own. As an Army spouse, I am grateful for Erin Celello’s dedication to revealing ‘the hidden wounds of war’ and how they impact our military and their families.”

—Siobhan Fallon, author of
You Know When the Men Are Gone

Written by today’s freshest new talents and selected by New American Library, NAL Accent novels touch on subjects close to a woman’s heart, from friendship to family to finding our place in the world. The Conversation Guides included in each book are intended to enrich the individual reading experience, as well as encourage us to explore these topics together—because books, and life, are meant for sharing.

Visit us online at www.penguin.com.


Learning to Stay
is a story about one broken man’s extraordinary relationship with the devoted, love-struck dog that saves his life. Erin Celello has written a surprising and heartwarming look at what’s left in a marriage after post-traumatic stress has forced romance to take a hike, and what one perfect mutt can teach a besieged husband and wife about the heroics of loyalty and determination.”

—Jeanine Cummins, author of
The Crooked Branch

“A riveting and tender portrait of what we lose in war, even when our loved ones are returned to us, and the emotional battle a wife must wage to bring her husband back to her. Erin Celello truly understands the human heart: the way we bend, the way we break, and especially the way we heal.”

—Erika Marks, author of
The Mermaid Collector

“An important and inspiring novel—serving to remind us that for many soldiers and their loved ones, war doesn’t end when battlefields go silent.”

—John Shors, bestselling author of
Temple of a Thousand Faces

“Erin Celello’s fine novel
Learning to Stay
reminds us of something we know in our hearts but conveniently forget time and again when war approaches: that the soldiers we send off to fight in our interests will return, if not broken, then changed in unexpected and sometimes tragic ways.
Learning to Stay
is a timely novel, but also a novel that speaks to the tides of any marriage, in peacetime or at war. Written with a present tense immediacy, Erin Celello’s novel portrays life after the Welcome Home signs are folded up and put away.”

—Joseph Monninger, author of
Margaret from Maine

MIRACLE BEACH


Miracle Beach
gives the reader a vivid sense of the Pacific Northwest and the world of show jumping, but most importantly it shows how characters shattered by grief can put the pieces back together in an entirely new way. Erin Celello writes of loss and resilience with a sure, honest hand.”

—Heidi Jon Schmidt, author of
The Harbormaster’s Daughter


Miracle Beach
ripples with surprising twists and turns. Erin Celello has a knack for writing characters that jolt the reader with the risks they take while also creating a satisfying sense of rightness. Love is here, grief, the beauty of place, suspense, and an ending that fits just right. Erin Celello has given us a fulfilling novel in
Miracle Beach
.”

—Tina Welling, author of
Cowboys Never Cry
and
Fairy Tale Blues


Miracle Beach
is a lyrical, surprising novel, set in a landscape as wild as memory. Erin Celello understands that the past is always present, and she takes that age-old truth and spins it into a story of secrets, sorrow, and second chances. A marvelous debut.”

—Dean Bakopoulos, author of
My American Unhappiness

“The skillfully portrayed, believably flawed heroine has to simultaneously come to grips with the upheaval of everything she knows and her tumultuous past. Celello gets to the heart of the human character, making this story one powerful read.”


Romantic Times

“Celello brings a fine sense of place to this earthy small town in Vancouver, Canada.”


Publishers Weekly

ALSO BY ERIN CELELLO

Miracle Beach

Learning to Stay

Erin Celello

NAL Accent

Published by New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,

Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,

Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell,

Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre,

Panchsheel Park, New Delhi -110 017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632,

New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue,

Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:

80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published by NAL Accent, an imprint of New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, February 2013

Copyright © Erin Celello, 2013

Conversation Guide copyright © Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned,

or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please

do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in

violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Celello, Erin.

Leaning to stay/Erin Celello.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-101-61168-5

1. Marriage—Fiction. 2. Iraq War, 2003–2011—Veterans—Fiction. 3. Human-animal relationships—Fiction. 4. Domestic fiction. I. Title.

PS3603.E4L43 2013

813’.6—dc23    2012031699

Designed by Elke Sigal

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON

For LLC and LSC,

who couldn’t stay, and for ADO—

I’m so glad you did.

Table of Contents

Prologue

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Twenty-eight

Twenty-nine

Thirty

Thirty-one

Thirty-two

Thirty-three

Thirty-four

Thirty-five

Thirty-six

Thirty-seven

Thirty-eight

Acknowledgments

About the Author

BOOK: Learning to Stay
9.9Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Nightshifted by Cassie Alexander
The Ruins by Scott Smith
Alaric's Bow: A Book of the Amari by Collins, KateMarie
The Damascus Chronicles by Dominic R. Daniels
Cup of Sugar by Karla Doyle