Also by this author: Yours Is the Night, All the Lost Places
Published by Bethany House on June 30, 2020
Genres: Fiction, Historical, Romance
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Reeling from the loss of her parents, Lucie Clairmont discovers an artifact under the floorboards of their London flat, leading her to an old seaside estate. Aided by her childhood friend Dashel, a renowned forensic astronomer, they start to unravel a history of heartbreak, sacrifice, and love begun 200 years prior--one that may offer the healing each seeks.
This is a breathtaking novel that leaves you pondering, in awe and amazement. How does one begin to put words together to adequately describe this glowing story of starry light?!
Set the Stars Alight is an absolutely beautiful, beautiful story. It just could not be rushed in its reading. I loved it so much, and finished it with a bittersweet sorrow. This book will be one of my top reads this year. It is a lovely weaving together of two stories. And more layers than you can count. Stories intertwined between the two main stories. Poetry. And prose. Riddles and ballads.
Friendship. Loss. Sorrow. Hope. Love.
The story begins with Lucy. And Dash. It shows their childhood. Almost the kind that fairy tales come from, at least for Lucy. Then everything changes, and she is almost as much an orphan as her dear friend Dash.
Interwoven with the lovely characters is the detailed description of their lovely setting. Lucy grew up in a little glass cottage by a match factory. One that is now abandoned. Set in London (or England, somewhere). I just loved reading the descriptiveness of the setting. The author made it come alive before my very eyes.
As an adult, Lucy is so alone. She’s forgotten the lovely stories told to her by her dad. But she’s on a hunt, determined to find a long-forgotten ship, the Jubilee. So this story is also a treasure hunt, of sorts.
Then you have the story of Frederick. Of Juliette. Of Elias. This from a time about 200 years earlier. Their stories are also full of sadness. Anger. Loss.
But the stars. The light. The hope. How beauty can come from ashes. Diamonds from dust. Stars from darkness. Anything is possible. Expect the impossible.
I loved the richness of these tales. I had the feeling that each word was carefully chosen, polished, placed exactly in its proper place, in a revealing of a treasure beyond description.
All of it is just so very beautiful. This is one of those stories that will stay with me for a long time, one that I will hold close.