Book review: ‘The Good Boy’
The Good Boy: A Novel by Stella Hayward. Avon, 2025. Softcover, 320 pages.
Stay with me on this one: If you are willing to believe that magic just might sometimes be real, pick up a copy of The Good Boy by Stella Hayward, easily one of the best novels you will read this year.
On the eve of her 30th birthday, Genie is given a midnight birthday wish by her psychic grandmother with the admonition to choose carefully because the wish is irreversible. Later at home with her beloved golden retriever Rory, Genie casually tells him she wishes he were human. Oops. The next morning, Genie awakens to find Rory in human form but with all his canine energy and exuberance intact.
Set in a seaside town in northern England and peopled with a quirky supporting cast of Genie’s family and friends, the book is whimsical and, in many ways, wise. Enlisting the help of her longtime friend and neighbor Miles, Genie — along with Rory (eager to regain his canine body) — sets out to find a way to reverse her wish. Along the way, she learns what is truly important to her and just how much Rory, in any form, has to teach her. Without giving away any spoilers, let’s just say that all’s well that ends well in this delightful and often hilarious book.
I have been a fan of author Stella Hayward for many years and found The Good Boy one of her most engaging reads. Sometimes labeled “chick lit,” her books don’t fit easily into that genre, full of life lessons and human connection as they are. The Good Boy is a novel for all dog lovers, regardless of age and gender. My partner, a 67-year-old man, read The Good Boy in one day and loved it as much as I did. I guarantee you will, too.
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