Catherine Ryan Hyde’s thought-provoking novels force readers to consider their lives and their own values and morals. They are not thrillers with fast, action-filled pages that drive the plot forward. Her newest novel, “Come Back to the World,” is one that is filled with quiet retrospection and conversations about life. It’s about a world-famous author who after her debut book rocked the publishing world, disappeared.

Amelia Booker is a journalist and an expert on everything E. L. Swann. She is not only fascinated by the reclusive author, she actually wrote her thesis on Swann. She has been searching for Swann because her life’s mission is to find out even more about the mysterious author. Why hasn’t she written another book, and why has she chosen to disappear from public life?

So when friends of her soon-to-be-ex-husband send her a photo they took while in a small town in Baja Mexico, and tell her that this elderly woman they saw at the local market could be E. L. Swann, she takes notice. Amelia’s life is a bit chaotic. She is in the process of divorcing her controlling husband Mark, and her seven-year-old son, Jaden, might be getting bullied at school, so her life is a bit unsettled. But she really wants to see if this mystery woman could be the famous author.

So Amelia and Jaden head to Mexico. Getting there is just the first part of the adventure. At the hotel, the employees recognize the photo of the woman as the reclusive lady who lives in a large house at the top of a hill overlooking the town. The driveway is pitted with huge potholes to discourage cars from attempting the drive. They explain that the woman who lives there only comes into town once a week on her donkey to visit the local market. Amelia summons the courage to walk with Jaden up the long steep drive. Both are parched (they didn’t bring water) and exhausted by the time they arrive at the front gate. Amelia knocks, and as they are met by an angry woman who says she is most definitely not E. L. Swann, her son succumbs to Montezuma’s Revenge and throws up all over the lovely patio. Even on one of the cats.

Well, this woman who is not-E. L. Swann allows them in, and for some reason, which we never completely understand, is smitten by Jaden. She begrudgingly offers to let them stay until Jaden is better as he is in no condition to be moved. She even calls the local doctor to treat Jaden. When Jaden begins to feel better, he meets and is enchanted by Francisco, a huge, very friendly donkey.

But in a surprising turn of events, Ella Steinbach, the woman who lives in the house, doesn’t want them to leave. By this time, Amelia has found evidence that Ella Steinbach is really E. L. Swann, who says that if they stay, she will allow Amelia to interview her. But she has very strict rules that Amelia must agree to, and the most important one is that Amelia can never let anyone know where Ella lives, and nothing in the interview can indicate where she is. After Amelia gets enough information for her article, she is ready to leave, but Ella convinces her to stay a bit longer. She admits that Jaden is her muse, and that she has started writing again because of him.

One of the things that is fascinating and intriguing about the manner in which Hyde portrays the famous author is that Hyde sugar-coats nothing. The fictional author is prickly and reserved. She’s self-centered, and Jaden seems to be the only exception. There’s not much to like about her except that she takes good care of her donkey and loves her cats. She also seems to love Jaden. They have conversations about issues that Amelia, when she overhears them, wishes he had talked to her about. The young boy and the octogenarian writer have a definite connection.

Ella tells Amelia that she likes being alone because then no one is trying to define her. And that’s a universal truth; we are always judging others. There’s a reason that our blood pressure is lower when we are petting a dog or cat, but not when we are with another person. People judge; dogs and cats don’t. She explains, “The readers who thought I changed their lives believed I had something inside me that they needed. And the problem with that, of course, is that they have to tear me apart to get at it.” Ella hates the feeling that being a public figure means that she belongs to the public, and not to herself. Instead of being able to have conversations that go back and forth, like equals, she is bombarded with the same questions about where her ideas come from, where she finds her characters. By leaving society and living in solitude, she can do what she wants, read when she wants, and not feel obligated to others.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Catherine Ryan Hyde shares some traits with the fictional author. Hyde told me that while she isn’t as misanthropic as Ella in the novel, she is semi-reclusive and extremely introverted. “I don’t put people down, but I do like it when they’re at a certain distance.” Unlike Ella, Hyde was able to explain a bit about her writing process. “I would say she’s an extreme example of some things I’ve experienced. And that’s usually the way I take something I understand and turn up the volume on it.” She also shared that the feelings that Ella experienced about what she put up with from readers is similar to what Hyde felt during the “Pay It Forward” phenomenon. “It felt good to get some of that off my chest.”

There is no happy ending, no “and they lived happily ever after.” But all the characters’ lives have been changed by the encounter, and all were changed for the better. Amelia, though, can’t reconcile the connection that they had during that short time they lived together with the truth that Ella really, really, wants to be left alone. One of the takeaways from this situation is that people are who we are. Sometimes we can change, but often we either don’t want to (because we are happy with who we are) or we are not able to change for some reason.

When we help people, are they obligated to show us gratitude and affection? Is true generosity giving and not expecting anything in return? Is the human need for lasting relationships so strong, in some of us, that not communicating seems impossible? Do successful authors owe their readers answers to questions? In this quiet, introspective novel that questions the bonds we form with others, there is much to reflect on, much to consider. Why do some people thrive on being the center of attention while others abhor it?

This is a unique, very thoughtful and very complex novel; it contains a multitude of questions and issues that are worthy of discussion and careful consideration.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.