The Movement of Stars is a mesmerising
novel by debut author Amy Brill. It is set in the Quaker community of
Nantucket and begins in 1845.
Hannah Gardner Price has lived for her
whole life in Nantucket. Her passion is astronomy and lives for her
research on the stars. Hannah is a really unusual and dynamic
heroine, who throws herself into a discipline which would have been
virtually unheard of for women at the time. Hannah lives with her
father Nathaniel in this very tight, religious community. She does
not seem to have many friends and spends her days working at the
library and waiting for news from her twin brother Edward.
The story starts off gently and soon
picks up pace, I felt that this gentle speed allowed me to get to
know Hannah as a character. Hannah starts to teach Isaac Martin, a
black whaler stranded in Nantucket, lessons in astronomy and soon
finds herself falling for him. However, theirs is a love that seems
destined to be forbidden. Despite their hugely different
circumstances, both Isaac and Hannah have very similar ideals and
only want to create better and more equal lives for themselves.
Amy Brill has cleverly constructed a
beautiful love story that is set against a backdrop of prejudice,
hope and change. The setting of Nantucket is really brought to life
and the book itself seems to be impeccably researched.
This is a captivating novel that I
found my self completely enthralled by. I was fascinated to read that
it was loosely based on the life of astronomer Maria Mitchell and I
look forward to reading more by this author. I love the cover of this
book too.
Thank you to Penguin for sending me a
copy to review.
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