#Review: River of Stars by Georgina Moore @PublicityBooks @HQstories @HarperCollinsUK #newrelease #literaryfiction #romance #secondchances #RiverofStars

My apologies that this post is a little later than intended – that heat rather knocked me for six, and then I was away for a while – but I’m really delighted today to be finally sharing my review of River of Stars by Georgina Moore. Published by Harper Collins/HQ on 3rd July, it’s now available in hardcover, as an audiobook, and on all major ebook platforms: my thanks to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).

This really should be the point where I tell you how very much I loved The Garnett Girls – to my great shame, Georgina’s first book disappeared into the depths of my kindle. But I really couldn’t have failed to see the many wonderful reviews, and I was determined not to miss out this time round – everything I saw about this book ahead of its publication told me it was one I really had to read. And that forgotten copy of The Garnett Girls? It’s now on my kindle front page once more…

Jo hasn’t seen Oliver since that magical, life-changing summer when their idyllic island paradise was shattered. Growing up on Walnut Tree Island, they were everything to each other, defying a feud that fractured their families decades before. If first love runs deep, Jo and Oliver’s ran like the river itself, fast and true.

 

On Walnut Tree Island, love affairs and secrets come and go like the tides. Once the pulse of a flourishing 1960s music scene, it’s where Mary Star fell in love with a young musician about to hit the big time, only to be left with a baby and a broken heart. Mary has made the island a haven for two generations of Star women, raising her daughter and her granddaughter, surrounded by the river, supported by a bohemian, artistic community.

 

But Oliver’s return to the island after years away throws everyone into a frenzy. The threat of change is coming to paradise. And for Jo, Oliver’s return opens the wounds of a love she thought she had lost for ever…

 

Beautifully written, featuring a cast of magnetic characters, River of Stars is the captivating new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Georgina Moore.

This was a totally absorbing story, quite beautifully told – with the most stunning setting, so vividly captured and described. And, a few weeks after reading, it’s a story that really stayed with me, often in my thoughts – and its strong characters very much nestled in my heart.

Walnut Tree Island – in the Thames, with a fascinating history (based on the real-life Eel Pie Island), and an eclectic community who call it home – is as important to this wonderful story as its human characters, richly atmospheric and so vividly described. It’s essentially the story of three women – Mary Star from the mistakes of her youth through to the present day, her daughter Ruby, and her granddaughter Jo. And the Star family history is entwined with that of the Greenwood family, owners of the island – with their grandson Oliver having returned in the present day, with difficult decisions to be made about its future.

While Mary is now very much the matriarch, respected and deferred to, the island has become home to a particularly close-knit artistic community, fiercely defensive of their way of life – Jo herself runs art classes for children, having returned from a stay in Florence that destroyed all confidence in her own artistic ability. And as the book begins, Jo is very difficult to like – she’s lonely and vulnerable, her self-destructive behaviour lessening our sympathy for her, but she’s redeemed to some extent by the relationship with her grandmother. But there’s also the intrigue of her former relationship with Oliver – rekindled by his return, resisted by them both because of their opposing views about the island’s future. But that connection between them – I really ached for them both, hoping there was some possibility of them reconciling their differences and finding each other once more.

Oliver himself is an equally flawed and complex character – making significant errors along the way, striving to be accepted as part of the community his very presence is threatening, conflicted about the depth of his feelings for Jo, as unsure as everyone else about the future. But there are so many wonderfully drawn characters, playing significant parts in the unfolding story, complicating the overall picture, increasing its texture. And then there’s the way the past impacts on the present – the memories, the loves, the losses – unfolding in tandem, not quite as a dual-time story, more dipping into the significant moments that have shaped the various relationships and brought us to the present day.

The writing is stunning, the descriptions of the unique setting transporting, the emotional impact of every action never far from the surface – it’s not a story you simply read, it’s a story you feel, and there are times when it really hurts. But it’s not all emotion – the story itself is absolutely compelling, with moments of particular drama, and with real uncertainty about its outcome. The romantic content is exceptional – a connection shaped by the past, desperately tangled in the present, tinged with acute pain, but with moments of absolute joy and hope for a happier future. But I equally loved the focus on family, those relationships that were so astutely and sensitively handled, and felt so very real in every way – along with the deep hurt their fracture could cause.

This was an enthralling read from beginning to end, all-consuming and completely unforgettable – unlike anything I’ve ever read before, and without question one of my books of the year.

About the author

Georgina Moore grew up in London and lives on a houseboat on the River Thames with her partner, two children and Bomber, the Border Terrier. The Garnett Girls was her debut novel and is set on the Isle of Wight, where Georgina and her family have a holiday houseboat called Sturdy. Georgina’s brand new novel River of Stars is out now and is inspired by the legendary Eel Pie Island and its colourful history as a rock and roll haven in the 1960s, and by her own life on the river.

Twitter | Instagram