
Author Elle Hyden recommends When the Stars Sang by Caren Werlinger
Welcome to Authors Getting Rec’d! Each week, we’ll bring you a new sapphic book recommendation from a favorite sapphic author. Find out what authors are reading and why, plus read about the personal connections between authors and books.
This week, Elle Hyden, recommends one of her favorite books and explains why When the Stars Sang is a must read.
Elle loves stories with a bit of the mystical in them. She’s now read most of Caren’s books. This one was recommended by a friend, the best way to hear about your next book!
Let’s hear more from Elle about why When the Stars Sang is a must read:
It is a great story of the descendants of the Native American islanders that rescued some Irish from a sinking shipwreck. The author does a great job describing how both cultures blended their beliefs together to come up with unique outlook and system that protects Little Sister Island from commercial development and fosters the love of the land. There is also a magic element that ties the people of island blood together.
The story revolves around two main characters. First Kathleen Halloran, who spent summers on the island until her brother drowns during a bad storm while racing his boat with another boy. Kathleen’s father not only blames his mother but the whole island for his death and never takes her back. But she feels compelled to return after her grandmother dies and she breaks up with her long term girlfriend.
The islanders are a tight community and her return brings back memories of that horrible accident. Molly Cooper, part time sheriff and the island fix it woman, is especially concerned with Kathleen’s return and how it will affect her brother Aidan who survived the racing tragedy that day.
Both Kathleen and Molly have to come to terms with the past before they can move forward and find love together.
There are a lot of amazing secondary characters filling the story and brings a fullness to this very special story.