LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Weaving an enthralling tale of recovery from childhood trauma and the tangled complexities of a dysfunctional family, Harriet Evans’ The Stargazers traverses the 1920s to the present-day to reveal how a woman finds freedom from childhood trauma through love. Thronging with mystery, the storytelling is characterful and alive with a richness of human experience.
In 1922, in sprawling Fane Hall, eight-year-old Iris is often lonely, happiest outside in nature and under the stars, but also aware that her being a girl is a disappointment, for it means her uncle Clive will inherit Fane Hall. Once one of the finest houses in Sussex, with connections to the magician and astronomer Dr John Dee, it’s now falling apart.
Decades later, Iris’ daughter Sarah is struggling with the chaos created by Fane Hall - a desire to keep hold of the house unleashed a maniacal obsession in Iris. As the novel slips between multiple timelines, we witness how Sarah’s 1950s childhood was made traumatic by cruel, abusive, unstable Iris, with only music, an owl named Stella and the bohemian Bird Boy brightening her life through offering glimmers of an alternate starlit world.
In the 1970s, Sarah marries Daniel and moves into her own sprawling house in Hampstead. Struggling with the demands of the house and new motherhood, and having no time to devote to her beloved cello, she returns to Fane Hall and confronts Iris.
With a succession of jaw-dropping twists spiking the crescendo, The Stargazers teems with tension and unfolds with enthralling atmosphere, emotion and pace.
Joanne Owen
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The Stargazers Synopsis
'Don't you think there should be a name for people like us?' he said. 'Who look up and who dream of more, who dream of escaping? Who never lose faith, no matter how hard it becomes?'
'Stargazers,' I said. 'That's what we are'
It's the 1970s, and Sarah has spent a lifetime trying to bury memories of her childhood: the constant fear, the horror of her school days, and Fane, the vast, crumbling house that was the sole obsession of her mother, Iris, a woman as beautiful as she was cruel. Sarah's solace has been her cello and the music that allowed her to dream, transporting her from the bleakness of those early years to her new life with her husband Daniel in their safe, if slightly chaotic, Hampstead home and with a concert career that has brought her fame and restored a sense of self.
The past, though, has a habit of creeping into the present, and as long as Sarah tries to escape, it seems the pull of her mother, Fane Hall and the secrets hidden there cannot be suppressed, threatening to unravel the fragile happiness she enjoys now. Sarah will need to travel back to Fane to confront her childhood, and search for the true meaning of home.
Deliciously absorbing and rich with character and atmosphere, The Stargazers is the story of a house, a family, and finding the strength inside yourself to carry on.
Readers love Harriet Evans' captivating and twisty stories . . .
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781472271426 |
| Publication date: |
14th September 2023 |
| Author: |
Harriet Evans |
| Publisher: |
Headline Review an imprint of Headline Publishing Group |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
416 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Literary Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Harriet Evans Press Reviews
Delightfully romantic and deliciously escapist - Bookseller (Editor's Choice)
The Stargazers is a gorgeously sweeping novel, so beautifully written, with characters - and an old stately home - that linger long after you turn the last page. I loved it - Eve Chase
Author
About Harriet Evans
Harriet Evans is a Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling author of seven previous novels, including A Hopeless Romantic, The Love of Her Life, Happily Ever After and Not Without You. She spent a number of years working in the publishing industry before becoming an author fulltime. She lives in London with her family.
Author Photo © Johnny Ring
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