The Giver of Stars is the new standalone novel from Jojo Moyes, the bestselling author of Me Before You. This remarkable book is based on a true story and tells the tale of five women who team up to make the dream of a Packhouse Library a reality.
Battling against the wild, unforgiving mountains of Kentucky is not the only hurdle they will face, overcoming the social disapproval of the small community of Salt Lick will prove to be equally as treacherous.
Alice Wright marries American businessman Bennett Van Cleve, not only is he handsome but he offers her a ticket to escape her stifling life in England. She soon learns, however, that she’s now trapped in a loveless marriage. This revelation tears her apart, “given the belief, engraved deep within her, that every love story held, at it’s heart, the potential for a happy ending.”
It’s only when she joins Margery O’Hare and three other women on a quest to ride hundreds of miles a week to deliver books on horseback to isolated families that she finds an unexpected lifeline in her new job and in the friendships she forms.
At times I felt my soul rejoice at their wins and my heart ache at their losses. Moyes has given us not only a completely captivating story but also the opportunity to meet extraordinary characters who you won’t soon forget. My heart wrenched at the pain in their struggles yet raced at the passion in their relationships and applauded at the strength in their friendships. There are so many important topics raised in this book, including the inequality of women and racial tensions of a 1930’s America, but which are sadly still relevant even today.
The Giver of Stars has the makings of becoming a modern day classic. Writing a book that is so soulful is an art, but writing that very book about the passion of books and the wonder of reading is a masterful thing to have achieved. I believe this book will resonate with me for many months to come and will beckon me to read it again very soon.
The Giver of Stars is available from book stores and online retailers for a recommended price of R270.
The Giver of Stars, Amy Lowell
“Hold your soul open for my welcoming.
Let the quiet of your spirit bathe me
With its clear and rippled coolness,
That, loose-limbed and weary, I find rest,
Outstretched upon your peace, as on a bed of ivory.
Let the flickering flame of your soul play all about me,
That into my limbs may come the keenness of fire,
The life and joy of tongues of flame,
And, going out from you, tightly strung and in tune,
I may rouse the blear-eyed world,
And pour into it the beauty which you have begotten.”
Thanks to Penguin Random House for sharing this stunning book with me.
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