Reviews

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

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saraharnold8's review

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challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

helen_t_reads's review

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challenging dark hopeful informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to Amelia Rushen at Vintage/Penguin UK for offering a finished copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review, as it's quite possible that left to my own devices I might not have picked this one up.

Wandering Stars tells the story of a Native American community through the generations, down almost two centuries of history: from the horrors of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 to the Carlisle Industrial School, to the aftermath of a shooting in the early 21st century, and finishing in post-pandemic times.

It is a polyphonic novel told through a Prologue and 3 acts, featuring some characters who featured in Orange's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, There, There, (which I haven't read)and apparently acts as both a prequel and sequel to it.

The novel is a blend of historical re-creation and really gritty social realism, and I learned so much about the white man's 'war' on the Native American Indian, which took on the proportions of a genocide as they endeavoured to wipe them out.

It deals with themes of displacement, persecution and erasure; of identity and belonging; of generational trauma, addiction and pain; of love, loss, and family; and ultimately trying to find a way towards healing.

Every character down the generations is searching for a sense of belonging, and it's an extensive cast. In the sections dealing with the past it moves quickly - sometimes too rapidly - from generation to generation so that it's hard to get a full sense of each character, or to forge a full connection with them, but then in parts 2 and 3, the focus is a little tighter with a more defined cast of individuals, although the voice and perspective continues to shift. (I think my favourite character in the whole novel was probably Grandma Opal.)

It's beautifully written, with images and sentences that are so arresting that they give you pause.
But, that said, it's also a hard book to read: from the subject matter, to the generational addiction and suffering, to the continual shifting of character and POV, to the slightly uneven pacing, and the sheer mass and range of content you are presented with.

I think the thing I found most difficult was the too little a sense of an overall cohesion and plot, for my own personal taste. It felt like a collection of constantly changing and wandering testimonies rather than possessing a narrative arc providing framework and shape, as per the usual conventions of fiction.

However, please don't let this last point put you off reading Wandering Stars - this is entirely a matter of personal taste and preference - and the novel has received widespread critical praise and admiration from legions of other readers. It's a powerful, impactful novel that offers much to think about, handling some very important themes.