Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Allie and Bea: A Novel
    Allie and Bea: A Novel
    Allie and Bea: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    Allie and Bea: A Novel

    Written by Catherine Ryan Hyde

    Narrated by Lauren Ezzo and Janet Metzger

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An Amazon Charts bestseller.

    Humor and heart move the fast-paced journey of an unlikely pair coming together to form a family of their own in this touching story from New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

    Bea has barely been scraping by since her husband died. After falling for a telephone scam, she loses everything and is forced to abandon her trailer. With only two-thirds of a tank in her old van, she heads toward the Pacific Ocean with her cat—on a mission to reclaim what’s rightfully hers, even if it means making others pay for what she lost.

    When fifteen-year-old Allie’s parents are jailed for tax fraud, she’s sent to a group home. But when her life is threatened by another resident, she knows she has to get out. She escapes only to find she has nowhere to go—until fate throws Allie in Bea’s path.

    Reluctant to trust each other, much less become friends, the two warily make their way up the Pacific Coast. Yet as their hearts open to friendship and love from the strangers they meet on their journey, they find the courage to forge their own unique family—and begin to see an imperfect world with new eyes.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMay 23, 2017
    ISBN9781536631845
    Allie and Bea: A Novel
    Author

    Catherine Ryan Hyde

    Catherine Ryan Hyde is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of more than forty books and counting. An avid traveler, equestrian, and amateur photographer, she shares her astrophotography with readers on her website. Her novel Pay It Forward was adapted into a major motion picture, chosen by the American Library Association (ALA) for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than twenty-three languages for distribution in over thirty countries. Both Becoming Chloe and Jumpstart the World were included on the ALA’s Rainbow Book List, and Jumpstart the World was a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards. Where We Belong won two Rainbow Awards in 2013, and The Language of Hoofbeats won a Rainbow Award in 2015. More than fifty of her short stories have been published in the Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, and many other journals; in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories and California Shorts; and in the bestselling anthology Dog Is My Copilot. Her stories have been honored by the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the Tobias Wolff Award and have been nominated for The Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Three have been cited in the annual The Best American Short Stories anthology. She is the founder and former president (2000–2009) of the Pay It Forward Foundation. As a professional public speaker, she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with AmeriCorps members at the White House, and shared a dais with Bill Clinton. For more information, please visit the author at www.catherineryanhyde.com.

    More audiobooks from Catherine Ryan Hyde

    Related to Allie and Bea

    Related audiobooks

    Coming of Age Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Top 10 Books

      Jun 16, 2023

      Top 10 Books
      1 min read

    • Article

      'The Heart's Invisible Furies' Is the Funny, Touching Story of an Irish Everyman

      Sep 1, 2017

      Boyne's new novel follows its protagonist throughout the decades, from birth in 1945 to age 70, and the story encompasses a great deal of history.

      3 min read

    • Article

      POISON ON Pink Paper

      Dec 23, 2019

      POISON ON Pink Paper
      8 min read

    • Article

      Cruel Means, Bitter Ends

      Nov 10, 2021

      “In order for this speech to mean anything to me, I’ll need to dispense with the usual demagoguery and, instead, make an attempt at honesty. With this in mind, there is one thing I have to make clear. I’m not in this race to serve your interests, but

      12 min read

    • Article

      Lech

      Feb 8, 2022

      Lech
      4 min read

    • Article

      My interview Hell

      Sep 20, 2023

      My interview Hell
      4 min read

    • Article

      Dirty John: Escape

      Oct 8, 2017

      Dirty John: Escape
      10 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Didn’t Trust Him. But I Was Curious About Him’: How I Made Friends With My Scammer

      Aug 5, 2023

      Listen, 2020 wasn’t my best year. I spent a lot of time in my bathtub – actually, a large clear storage tub in the bottom of my shower – eating bread I certainly didn’t make, and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Clear plastic, I discovered to my ho

      8 min read

    • Article

      Home Bird

      May 18, 2021

      Home Bird
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Kill Registry

      Dec 10, 2022

      My sister chose to use her bullet years ago and ever since she has badgered me to liberate my own from its chamber. Beth leveled her pistol at her husband five years into their marriage, and she has no regrets, which is one of the things I admire abo

      14 min read

    • Article

      Q-tip Options

      Oct 10, 2023

      I am not a good person. Abby was at my door. My reaction when I saw her should have been more charitable. She was young and cute and needy, but all I wanted was a nice relaxing day at home. When the police questioned her, I should have let them take

      16 min read

    • Article

      Push

      Aug 4, 2022

      Push
      5 min read

    • Article

      Jumping to CONCLUSIONS

      Oct 19, 2022

      Jumping to CONCLUSIONS
      6 min read

    • Article

      POISON ON Pink Paper

      Jan 2, 2020

      POISON ON Pink Paper
      8 min read

    • Article

      Royal Pain

      Nov 25, 2020

      Royal Pain
      4 min read

    • Article

      Famous People

      Mar 1, 2022

      Famous People
      15 min read

    • Article

      THE Coronials

      Jul 27, 2020

      THE Coronials
      2 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Sep 14, 2023

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Forever To The People

      Mar 19, 2020

      Forever To The People
      6 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Just Had To Do Better’

      Mar 18, 2024

      ‘I Just Had To Do Better’
      7 min read

    • Article

      Out Of £113,000

      Aug 31, 2021

      Out Of £113,000
      4 min read

    • Article

      Don’t Let Your Guard Down

      Dec 6, 2022

      Don’t Let Your Guard Down
      8 min read

    • Article

      Home BIRD

      Apr 18, 2023

      Home BIRD
      6 min read

    • Article

      Joke’s on Tim Noakes

      May 20, 2021

      Joke’s on Tim Noakes
      4 min read

    • Article

      Peter Mountford

      Dec 15, 2017

      Vivian spends most of the afternoon naked and strapped to the giant ottoman in the interior decorator’s office in Bethesda. When he finally unties her, the sun is low and she’s shaky and exhausted. He paddled her hard at some point, and that hot stin

      28 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Allie and Bea

    4.5/5

    309 ratings34 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      An easy listen, lovely story. Very well narrated, will look into what other work both the author and narrator have done.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      That was a nice, amusing book. I listen to a lot of historical fiction, so I enjoy something lighter once in a while.
    • 5/5
      This book was so good. Enjoyed every minute of it.
    • 5/5
      Adorable! Love it
      Couldn’t stop reading , so cute .
    • 4/5
      Catherine Ryan Hyde is my go-to for heartwarming stories. Her characters are lovable — even when they’re not. If you haven’t read her work yet, you are missing out!
    • 5/5
      As a woman nearly Bea's age, and being a rather recent widow with an insecure future, I loved this book. I related to Bea's plight--and even her feelings about ever having another romantic relationship. Beautiful, engaging story of kindness and the positive transformative power of being open to life and connecting with others.
    • 5/5
      Loved this book. At the beginning , it takes you down a dark journey and tells you the story of Bea and older brass,
      yet nieave older women . Then it goes on to tell you about the unfortunate and scary circumstances of Ali, who is also nieave yet smart. They come together to create a perfect story.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful and very well-crafted story. I love themes that show the goodness in others!! Great narration too!
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book! I could't put it down!
    • 5/5
      Such a great story. It made me want to listen to the book constantly !!
    • 5/5
      This audible book started out slow. I almost put it down. I’m glad I didn’t. It was well written, and it was a journey and I so enjoyed it.
    • 5/5
      Great story, excellent narration. I truly enjoyed it and highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book very much. I am looking forward to reading more of this author’s books. I chose this book originally because Janet Metzger is my favorite narrator and I was pleased to find a great book too.
    • 4/5
      The story was great I just didn’t like the voice of some of the characters
    • 4/5
      I am old, not as old as Bea in this novel, but right in there.

      Normally I don’t listen to many YA novels, mainly because I haven’t been a young adult in a long time, and in my day (like Bea’s day) things were different.
      I didn’t WANT to like this novel, but I did like it. There were parts that were a little rushed and some parts a little skippy.
      If the characterization didn’t fall true to me sometimes, the journey absolutely did.
      Okay so Bea is a widowed 70+ year-old woman who has just been scammed out of every penny she had, by a bogus IRS cretin ( I know all about this from working at the Sheriff’s Office) and she has no alternative but to leave everything she has behind and take her companion cat and a few necessary belongs and get into her beat-up old can and high-tail it out of town before her bounced checks are found out.
      Allie is a fifteen-year-old girl whose parents has just been indicted for Tax fraud and everything they own is seized and Allie has to go into the system. She is a normal if privileged young girl with a superior mind and a vegan. (they focus a lot on that in this novel)

      Thrown together after she jumps into Bea’s Van, the two begin a sort of ON THE ROAD kind of journey. What bothered me was that Everyone and I mean everyone they met were nice. They managed to get food, gas and even places to stay. Don’t get me wrong I do believe that there are a plethora of decent people in the world, but this is 2021 and I am having trouble with how people have begun treating people now days.
      As they traveled I felt I was right along with them as they made it all the way to Puget’s sound. I began to see things through their eyes. Like an entire beach filled with SEA GLASS and explained how it got there.

      These two women traveling alone were lucky and never met any bad people. Bea even had a second chance of companionship. (which she did not accept) People may find that odd since they only knew each other for a day. But when there are fewer days a ahead of your life than behind you, things can happen. But she was set in her ways and moved on.

      The ending was a little smarmy, but it was an ending I wanted. I needed BEA to be home.

      I enjoyed this novel.
    • 5/5
      It was a Great book I didn't want it to end
    • 5/5
      An unpredictable tale of 2 unlikely best friends who didn’t realize that each was exactly what the other one was missing in their life. A story of love, luck, hope and the lessons we learn about life and ourselves along it’s ever changing journey.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed the book very much.
      Liked the characters a lot.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant loved the humour and relationship between young and old.
    • 5/5
      What a story! Very touching and inspiring. Great storytelling too. I enjoyed it a lot.
    • 5/5
      Good story line with well developed characters, whose transitional experiences were well written. I loved it
    • 5/5
      My sister recommended this book to me and I’m so happy I took her advice. The story is very entertaining and full of funny moments.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed this sweet story, was a pleasant read. Thank you
    • 5/5
      A delightful journey!Allie and Bea is a charming story of two people in different circumstances coming together for both a road trip, and a journey of the heart.After losing her money to a scam, Bea packs up what she can and leaves her home in search of new surroundings.Allie loses everything when her parents are arrested, leaving her in the care of the child protective services. For her own survival, she ends up on the run.When their paths cross, neither knows what lies ahead. But both know they can't go back, and their road trip turns into an adventure of a lifetime.During their journey, they both reevaluate their lives and the events that led to their current situations. Bea the crotchety old lady, and Allie the runaway learn to trust again and begin an unlikely friendship amidst the uncertainty of their future.Well fleshed out characters, and the coastal highway backdrop, provide a rich and colorful storyline.Funny, heartwarming and a little suspenseful, this feel good novel leaves you wanting a sequel. I am looking forward to more from this author!
    • 4/5
      Nice pleasant read. Not sure it all made sense. Interesting issues. Like books about old people
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. (Thanks, Laura, for suggesting it.) Such great storytelling, such two endearing, wonderful main characters, and many other interesting and well-drawn characters. I read it quickly because whenever I could I read; I didn’t want to put it down, including choosing it over all other free time recreational activities.There were some unbelievable and unrealistic events, and a few large story/plot holes. And not just toward and at the end but from the start through the end, but I don’t feel like listing them all. The characters & story were so good that they didn’t matter to me as much as they probably should have.This book was made for me. Issues of financial troubles, homelessness, lack of family/support, etc. etc. etc. and mostly I loved that one of the main characters is vegan, and while she is definitely a health food vegan she is also an ethical vegan, vegan for animal cruelty reasons, and she sticks to her ethics, despite often being in many difficult to eat situations. In most books with vegan characters the books are message books and they’re not usually very good books. This is definitely not a message book and, despite its flaws, I think it’s a very good book.Pure pleasure reading but not at all dumb. It made me think, a lot. Is it chick lit? Maybe, but if so it’s sans romance, and I appreciated that.4-1/2 stars
    • 5/5
      Just a delightful, wonderful, heartwarming story. I was impressed with how much we get to know about Bea and Allie to make each of them so believable. Will the ending continue to work over time? It was a good ending and one can hope that a further epilogue would show that it really did work over time. NOW, I will look for other books by this author who seems to be prolific but I have missed her!
    • 4/5
      Bea has just been scraping by after her husband died. After falling for a telephone scam, she is forced to abandon her trailer and live on her van. When Allie's parents are arrested for tax fraud, Allie is caught in the world of Children's Services. She is sent to a group home where things get totally out of hand. She eventually runs away from human traffickers and runs into a very reluctant Bea for help. The two travel together and learn what it means to trust.
    • 4/5
      Bea is a senior living on a very fixed income. She has always followed the rules. She has always paid her bills. One mistake and Bea finds herself penniless and homeless. Allie is a carefree teenager who has been presented with all the advantages of an upper middle class lifestyle. Imagine her horror when, through no fault of her own, she is thrown into child protective services and forced to exist in an environment which is dangerous and surreal.

      When their paths cross each is in for the adventure of her life. As they travel together they teach each other about life and what it means to become involved and care for each other. I loved this book. I loved the characters and the way their respective and joint stories were told and interwoven.

      Thank you Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC.
    • 4/5
      When I have been reading a lot of 'heavy' books and need to lift my spirit to remember that good things can happen in this world of trials and conflict, I am glad to have Catherine Ryan Hyde to turn to. Her newest book, Allie and Bea, did not disappoint.Hyde's books have a common thread: imperfect people with real life problems, often mired in anger or despair, are lifted through an empowering, healthy relationship.This novel begins with Bea, a widow in her senior years, living on Social Security that can not cover her basic needs. Scammed out of her meagre savings, she has reached rock bottom and becomes a homeless vagrant living out of a panel van.Enter Allie, a fifteen year old on the run for her life. When Allie's upper class parents opted for lifestyle over paying the IRS they ended up in jail. Allie is taken under Child Protective Service and placed in a group home for delinquents until a foster home opened up.Allie has high standards for herself and holds others to them. It brings her into conflict with a violent girl, and fearing for her life, Allie joins a runaway girl only to find herself faced with a human trafficker.Allie flags down Bea's van and forces her way into Bea's life, and in nine days together on the lam, Bea is brought to reevaluate her entire life and Allie finds someone who will stand by her when her family has failed her.I enjoy how Hyde takes contemporary social issues and through likeable characters elicits an emotional understanding from readers. Yes, her endings are neat and sweet, but that is why I turn to her books. Sometimes we all need a wish fulfillment tale.I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.