Star Gazing by Linda GillardMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 2 days
Blurb From Goodreads
Blind since birth, widowed in her twenties, now lonely in her forties, Marianne Fraser lives in Edinburgh in elegant, angry anonymity with her sister, Louisa, a successful novelist. Marianne's passionate nature finds solace and expression in music, a love she finds she shares with Keir, a man she encounters on her doorstep one winter's night. While Marianne has had her share of men attracted to her because they want to rescue her, Keir makes no concession to her condition. He is abrupt to the point of rudeness, and yet oddly kind. But can Marianne trust her feelings for this reclusive stranger who wants to take a blind woman to his island home on Skye, to "show" her the stars?
My Review
The book centers around 3 main characters, Marianne being the main one, her sister Louisa and Keir a stranger who happens upon her in a moment on need. Marianne is blind from birth and lives with her author sister. After a chance meeting Marianne and Keir form a relationship were opposites really do attract and their friendship threatens to spill into something much more.
The book is written between Marianne's point of view, then third person and then Louisa's. It works very well and is really easy to follow. The story goes along without any big fireworks or huge events, although there is a handful tottered out throughout the book (mostly in the latter half). What made the book for me was seeing the world through Marianne, how she experiences the world, colours and scenery when she has never had any visual reference, I also loved how Keir taught her how to see things.
I have never read a book like it, it isn't a conventional love story but about two people finding a middle ground when they are both from different worlds. It was lovely to see the friendship form and the relationship build. I found myself getting annoyed and frustrated with both Marianne and Keir and how their inability to be upfront with each other lead to so many "issues". Sorry to be vague but I hate spoiler reviews. Overall I really enjoyed the book, it was nice to read something so different, 4/5 for me.
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I loved this book and it is such a different perspective from anything else I've read.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that I grew up with someone who was blind added to what I got from the book, very unique read.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this review. I was really pleased you enjoyed it. :-)
ReplyDeleteI was also relieved that it struck you as a convincing account of someone who's blind. Readers have often assumed I have a blind family member or friend but I don't. I did research of course, but mostly wrote the book from my imagination.
It did Linda, you done a great job!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great read. Nice review!
ReplyDeleteI loved this novel, too.
ReplyDeleteI agree about writing a great review for fear of spoilers
carol
I'm sure I speak for all authors when I say we really appreciate the trouble most reviewers go to, to avoid spoilers. I've had to contact a few people over the years to ask if they'd mind editing their review and I have many Amazon reviews that IMO contain spoilers.
ReplyDeleteI do realise how hard it is to write a review that makes someone want to read the book without giving much away. I think this is particularly hard with my books as my plots depend so much on big twists & revelations. So all credit to reviewers who do this! :-)