Stay and Fight

A Novel

By: Madeline Ffitch

Narrated by: Sophie Amoss, Bailey Carr

One of the 2019 Amazon.com Best Books of the Year

Lambda Literary Award - Nominee

New York Magazine Best Books of the Year, 2019

LA Times Book Prize - Finalist, 2019

"The narrators' portrayal of this makeshift family captures the rhythm and tone of lost young people who are trying to survive. These flawed, cantankerous, and fiercely independent characters in search of peace are perfectly delivered by Amoss and Carr." (AudioFile magazine)

A wildly original, piercingly timely addition to the story of the American family

Helen arrives in Appalachian Ohio full of love and her boyfriend’s ideas for living off the land. Too soon, with winter coming, he calls it quits. Helped by Rudy - her government-questioning, wisdom-spouting, seasonal-affective-disordered boss - and a neighbor couple, Helen makes it to spring. Those neighbors, Karen and Lily, are awaiting the arrival of their first child, a boy, which means their time at the Women’s Land Trust must end.

So Helen invites the new family to throw in with her - they’ll split the work and the food, build a house, and make a life that sustains them, if barely, for years. Then young Perley decides he wants to go to school. And Rudy sets up a fruit-tree nursery on the pipeline easement edging their land. The outside world is brought clamoring into their makeshift family.

Set in a region known for its independent spirit, Stay and Fight shakes up what it means to be a family, to live well, to make peace with nature and make deals with the system. It is a protest novel that challenges our notions of effective action. It is a family novel that refuses to limit the term. And it is a marvel of storytelling that both breaks with tradition and celebrates it. Best of all, it is full of flawed, cantankerous, flesh-and-blood characters who remind us that conflict isn't the end of love, but the real beginning.

Absorbingly spun, perfectly voiced, and disruptively political, Madeline ffitch's Stay and Fight forces us to reimagine an Appalachia - and an America - we think we know. And it takes us, laughing and fighting, into a new understanding of what it means to love and to be free.

©2019 Madeline Ffitch (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

A must listen!

I have enjoyed this audiobook more than any I can remember. I hope the author publishes another! Voice actors were great!

LOVED the beginning but so disappointed at the end

While is listening I was loving and then the end so let me down. Not sure what i was expecting but it was so abrupt I felt as though they just forgot to finish the story. The reader was wonderful.

Definitely worth it

The narrator is awesome. This book switched between 4 points of view and each one is very distinct, both in writing style and narration choices. The kid is especially authentic. The only reason I didn’t give the story 5 stars is because there are some loose ends that are not tied up by the end of the book, but it’s well worth it even with that.

Made me really think— plus it references ELFQUEST

Having readElfQuest myself as an adolescent, it took my breath away to hear these characters referenced ElfQuest repeatedly throughout the story.

Family, land rights, love, resistance, self reliance, identity, trying to carve out a life that is your very own, shedding the yoke that the modern world throws on you…wow.

Thank you Madeline. Looking forward to your next work.

Loved this book!

Funny, big hearted, edgy, imaginative, sometimes gross - I had a hard time putting this book down. Perley, his two mamas - Lily, and Karen - stole my heart. Even Mean Aunt Helen too. Family, parental love, the unique perspective of a child, living off the grid, the well- meaning, soul killing social work system, and the oil pipeline snaking through it all - this book is a must listen. Perfect narrators.

How many times can you hear the word "said"

Struggling to finish because it is mostly dialog and the only word the author uses for speech is "said": he said, she said, Helen said. There is no emotion or other words to describe speech no one shouts, exclaims, proclaims, gets excited... Not even when chapters change the narrator perspective to another character. The story is alright if you can get past hearing the word "said" every 15-30 seconds. At this point it should be a play with different character voices.

Ophidiophobics, beware

Overall, I was compelled to keep reading despite my deep fear of snakes. It's a constant throughout. Kind of wish there had been some kind of warning.

One of my favorites this year

I loved the spirit of the story. A way of life that isn’t tolerated by society, for many solid reasons, shouldn’t be snuffed out due to a lack of understanding of those folks who follow a different path. What a beautiful way to show the reader that different and valuable path. I can’t wait for the sequel. I’m in love with the kid.

Loved it!

The narrators really work for this book. I especially like the tone that is struck for Perley, the young boy that the novel revolves around.
I laughed and cried... that's a good book!

Hopes Dashed

I read this book on a TikTok recommendation. The narrator's bring the text to life. I'm not sure I would have finished had I read from the page. It started so slowly and the unending "s/he said" was initially so painful, but I soldiered on in curiosity about what made it so good. Then, I became absorbed in the story. I work in child welfare and we strive to train concepts of collaborative safety and cultural diversity, so it hit deep. And just when I was fully invested it ended without any resolution, leaving disappointment and resentment.