Author(s): Gina Butson

Fiction | July Monthly Highlights

A stunning debut novel about love, guilt and forgiveness. If you loved Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts by Josie Shapiro, you will adore The Stars are a Million Glittering Worlds.

Thea, a young woman crippled by guilt, flees to Central America to escape her life. In Guatemala, she meets the charismatic Chris and his partner, Sarah, and the three of them form a tight bond. But everything changes when a tragedy occurs.

Thea soon finds herself in a new relationship, bonded to her partner by grief. Together they do their best to start over in Hobart, but when tragedy strikes again - bringing up unanswered questions for Thea - she realises that if she wants to know the truth, she will need to come clean about her past.

BOOKSELLER REVIEW 

Tragedy shadows Thea wherever she goes. From New Zealand, to Guatemala, to Tasmania where she settles in a new relationship bonded by grief. When yet more tragedy strikes it unearths old grief, guilt and unanswered questions. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, Thea questions the trust she has in her partner and realises that if she wants to know the truth, she will need to come clean about her own past.

Throughout the book, Butson skillfully paints a vivid sense of place, filling the pages with disparate lands and landscapes. Thea's actions and thoughts are complex, along with her relationships. This story looks at a survivor’s guilt with the key take-away: you don’t have to be responsible for a tragedy to care about the consequences. Overall, The Stars are a Million Glittering Worlds is a thoughtful book that will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.  

Reviewed by Sara at Emma’s At Oxford, North Canterbury