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Loading... Chasing Windmillsby Catherine Ryan Hyde
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  GeniusJen | Oct 10, 2009 |  Sebastian's father is controlling, his mother is dead and his only friend in the world is an old woman. Sebastian rides the subway to "escape" the confines of his apartment in the city he shares with his dad. Maria has been with Carl since she was 15 years old. Two children later and never married, Carl is abusive and controlling. When Maria loses her job she rides the subway to avoid Carl and enjoy a little bit of "freedom". Two people meet and begin a journey of self discovery. This story is reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet or Westside Story except with a very different ending. The story was interesting, the writing in the voice of each of the main characters made it feel like someone was just telling you a story of their journey. I really enjoyed this very quick read. (  ) farmsister | Aug 6, 2009 | The book grabbed me right away because of the way Hyde described the first time Sebastian and Maria saw one another - electric. As the backgrounds of these two characters were developed more, the story seemed more and more improbable. That was the point, I guess, a story of star-crossed lovers. I enjoyed the references to Romeo & Juliet, West Side Story, and even maybe Don Quixote with the windmills as well. The story leaves you wanting more, as you barely get to know these two lovers before the story ends, albeit in a realistic resolution. As high as the stakes are for the characters, I'm not sure readers will feel the same way. (  ) readerspeak | Jul 9, 2009 | Chasing Windmills is the story of Sebastian and Maria. They are both prisoners in their own lives, yet their situations couldn’t be more different. Sebastian lives an extremely sheltered life. He is home-schooled by his controlling father and he forbids any outside relationships. Maria is trapped in an abusive relationship, by the father of her two children.Both escaping briefly, they meet on the subway train. Their relationship growing from just a quick glance to nightly meetings. Unable to deny the spark that they feel within for each other, they see falling in love as a chance to escape from it all.I can’t seem to find the words to describe how I felt while I read this captivating tale. This was my first exposure to the writings of Catherine Ryan Hyde and it most certainly will not be my last. The story beautifully alternates between Sebastian’s and Maria’s perspectives. The characters themselves are perfectly flawed, and I couldn’t help but love them for their choices when they struggled so immensely. I was completely enraptured from the beginning and was so until the last page. I think I experienced every possible emotion while reading, and it only made the experience more enjoyable. Be prepared for an unbelievable story, you may shed a tear or more, I know I did, but it is well worth it. Catherine Ryan Hyde has an unbelievable talent for writing and creating a story with such depth and meaning, I know it will be one I will not soon forget. (  ) | Jul 2, 2009 | edit | |   From Romeo and Juliet to West Side Story, the love story continues in a new edition through Chasing Windmills. Like the legendary couples Romeo and Juliet, Maria and Tony, the hero and heroine of Chasing Windmill - Maria and Sebastian - become lovers with many problems from their families, in a way. This was a beautiful he-said-she-said story that shows two people who find the strength to break away from their cages in life and to escape for freedom. Whether that freedom will end up with the couple happily together is for you to find out. The writing in this story is pretty captivating and Hyde captures the two characters pretty well. She's also the author of Pay It Forward, which is a story-turned-movie that I want to read and watch as well. Just a little trivial thing. Definitely recommended to all. ( ) calexis | Jan 13, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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Catherine Ryan Hyde, bestselling author of Pay It Forward, returns with a provocative tour de force on first love—a modern-day rendering of West Side Story born on a New York City subway car and nurtured under the windmills of the Mojave Desert.
The subway doors open and close, and in one moment Sebastian’s and Maria’s lives are changed forever. Rendered in Catherine Ryan Hyde’s stirring and evocative prose, CHASING WINDMILLS is a poignant love story that will leave you yearning for a subway ride that is a fraction as enchanting.
Letting go becomes the purest expression of love in this extraordinary novel by the bestselling author of Pay It Forward, Catherine Ryan Hyde.
Both Sebastian and Maria live in a world ruled by fear. Sebastian, a lonely seventeen-year-old, is suffocating under his dominant father’s control. In the ten years since his mother passed away, his father has kept him “safe” by barely allowing him out of their apartment. Sebastian’s secret late-night subway rides are rare acts of rebellion. another is a concealed friendship with his neighbor Delilah, who encourages him to question his father’s version of reality. Soon it becomes unclear whether even his mother’s death was a lie.
Maria, a young mother of two, is trying to keep peace at home despite her boyfriend’s abuse. When she loses her job, she avoids telling him by riding the subways during her usual late-night shift. She knows her sister, Stella, is right: She needs to “live in the truth” and let the chips fall where they may. But she still hasn’t been able to bring herself to do it. And soon he will expect her paycheck to arrive.
When Sebastian and Maria wind up on the same train, their eyes meet across the subway car, and these two strangers find a connection that neither can explain or ignore. Together they dream of a new future, agreeing to run away and find Sebastian’s grandmother in the Mojave Desert. But Maria doesn’t know Sebastian is only seventeen. And Sebastian doesn’t know Maria has children until the moment they leave. Ultimately, Maria brings one child, her daughter. Can she really leave her little boy behind? And, if not, what will it cost her to face her furious jilted abuser?
In this tremendously moving novel, Catherine Ryan Hyde shows us how two people trapped by life’s circumstances can break free and find a place in the world where love is genuine and selfless.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:00 -0400)
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Wikipedia in English
Seventeen-year-old Sebastian sneaks out at night. His domineering father home-schools him, makes decisions for him, and keeps an eye on him every minute of every day. Sebastian knows that only the nights are his after his father takes his sleeping pill.
Maria is a young mother of two, living with an abusive boyfriend. She is riding the subway because she is too afraid to admit to Carl that she has lost her job. She knows it can't go on forever, but once she meets Sebastian it becomes impossible to imagine life without him.
They met late one night on the subway. They exchanged glances and shy smiles, and finally they began to talk.
Once Sebastian begins to see the real world, he begins to question how his father has raised him. His only friend, an old woman living in a neighboring apartment, gives him the love his father never shows. With her encouragement, he makes a plan to escape from his father and take Maria with him. He contacts the maternal grandmother he barely remembers and learns his father has not just sheltered him, but also lied to him. His mother didn't die. She is alive and well in the Mojave Desert where he is welcome anytime.
Author Catherine Ryan Hyde tells the story of Sebastian and Maria in alternating chapters. The fear and pain of their loveless lives screams from the pages. I found myself feeling the absence of one when the chapter I was reading focused on the other. Even though CHASING WINDMILLS somewhat parallels several famous love stories of the past, it has its own unique voice and interpretation. It will most certainly touch your heart. (