Will's Red Coat by Tom Ryan

Will's Red Coat

The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

Tom Ryan

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · February 6, 2018

Boston Globe Bestseller A true story of acceptance, perseverance, and the possibility of love and redemption as evocative, charming, and powerful as the New York Times bestseller Following Atticus.

Buy on Amazon

We earn from qualifying purchases.

Who it’s for
A hard-won bond with an elderly dog makes for a tender, unsentimental reading experience.
Themes
Animal rescue, Perseverance and resilience, Love and redemption
Genres
Pet Stories & Essays, Dogs, Personal Memoirs

About this book

Boston Globe Bestseller A true story of acceptance, perseverance, and the possibility of love and redemption as evocative, charming, and powerful as the New York Times bestseller Following Atticus. Drawn by an online post, Tom Ryan adopted Will, a frightened, deaf, and mostly blind elderly dog, and brought him home to live with him and Atticus. The only owners Will ever knew had grown too fragile to take care of themselves, or of him.

Continue reading

Ultimately, Will was left at a kill shelter in New Jersey. Tom hoped to give Will a place to die with dignity, amid the rustic beauty of the White Mountains of his New Hampshire home. But when Will bites him numerous times and acts out in violent displays, Tom realizes he is in for a challenge. With endless patience and the kind of continued empathy Tom has nurtured in his relationship with Atticus, Will eventually begins to thrive. Soon, the angry, hurt, depressed, and near-death oldster has transformed into a happy, gamboling companion with a puppy-like zest for discovery. Will perseveres for two and a half years, inspiring hundreds of thousands of Tom and Atticus’s fans with his courage, resilience, and unforgettable heart. A story of a dog and an indelible bond that is beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting, and unforgettable, Will’s Red Coat honors the promise held in all of us, at any stage of life. Will’s Red Coat includes eight pages of color photographs.

Patience, Relearned

A hard-won bond with an elderly dog makes for a tender, unsentimental reading experience.

Come here for

  • The messy, moving work of earning a frightened dog's trust
  • A true story about care that meets a dog where he is

Expect

  • Heartbreak alongside warmth and flashes of joy
  • A sustained narrative centered on patience, resilience, and companionship

Where it sits

Personal Memoirs81%
Dogs53%
Pet Stories & Essays45%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Women's Lives
  • Personal Memoirs
  • New England History
  • The Americas History
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Women's History
  • Animals
  • Dogs
  • Pet Stories & Essays
Authors
Tom Ryan
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
February 6, 2018
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Animal rescue · Perseverance and resilience · Love and redemption
Reading lane
Women's Lives