The Light of Falling Stars

by J. Robert Lennon

A plane falls from the sky as a couple argues in their yard, the whine of its engines drowning out their voices, parts of the craft shearing off the roof of their house. A few miles away, a young man waits for his girlfriend at the airport, while in a long-empty house, an old woman anticipates the return of the husband who left her many years ago. The crash of an airplane on the outskirts of Marshall, Montana, takes more than just the lives of those on board.
Two days later, a stranger appears at the home of the couple who watched the plane go down. The lone survivor of the disaster, he becomes a witness to the disintegration of the couple's marriage. With striking compassion and knowingess, J. Robert Lennon depicts the lives of these and other residents of Marshall as they struggle to recover normaley in their lives and imagine a future after tragedy.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Book Club, Adult Fiction, Novels

307 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

J. Robert Lennon is the author of three story collections and ten novels, and is co-editor of CRITICAL HITS, an anthology of writing on video games. He lives in Ithaca, New York.

Reviews

[Manik Sukoco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the most engrossing reads I've ever experienced. From the first page to the last I was thoroughly involved with the story and all the characters. I was very sorry when the book ended.
There are many things I liked about the book. The story is compelling and certainly more than holds the attention - the whole theme of the loss of love, the crushing disappointment of chances recognized too late and missed, and then the process of redemption that may or may not come later, is one of the most poignant imaginable in literature as far as I'm concerned. This author handles it magnficently well.
The characters represent a very diverse range of personalities, and they are developed very well by the author. I felt as if I knew them. I also liked them - they all came across as knowable, likable people.
Finally, many of the readers'reviews that I've read have been critical of the ending of this book. The feeling seems to be that the ending is unsatisfactory and leaves too many things dangling and unresolved. While I can see where people are coming from with this, I nevertheless strongly disagree. Certainly it is true that things are not resolved with any sense of finality, and we wish we knew what was going to happen next in the lives of these people. However, each of the major characters in the book reaches a significant node, or turning point, in their life at the end of the book. In the last section of the book something happens to each of them that represents the possibility of a significant new beginning. Go back and look at the last three-four chapters and see if you don't agree. To me it seemed that the ending was extremely subtle and quite satisfying. In fact, any sort of neatly tied up ending to this story would simply not have been believable nor would it have worked. I think the author handled the ending perfectly.
In summary, I can't recommend this book enough - it is a superb piece of work.

[Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book for me was a huge pile of beautiful prose that amounted to very little, kind of like reading an ethereal greeting card. There's a plane crash in a small town in Montana, touching on five people in four stories, and their lives are changed as they reach some conclusions. I began to feel like I was stuck in this small town and driving around in circles. The moral of this story seems to be: in spite of everything that happens to you, there's no going back and life goes on. Oh, thanks, I'd better write that down.

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really enjoying this book until somewhere early in Part Two, it just veered off into something weird. The story had so much promise but the author seemed to have changed it from an interesting read about the lives people affected by a tragedy into the saga of Paul and Anita Beveridge's messed up lives/marriage. Can you say BORING!?!

[Neily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a bowl of emotions. It was done in such a way that you can understand it based on each character's perspective and it is beautiful.

[Sam Seaver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great. Disappointed bc I looooved Subdivison. Lennon is at his best when he’s writing something borderline incomprehensible, I suppose. This was like Aesop’s Fables for adults. Too many people who seemed like aliens pretending to be people. For a book about the human condition, there wasn’t a trace of humanity. Not a single character you can empathize with, even though your options are a girl with kidney failure, an uncle with OCD, an Italian grandpa, a ghost, and literally every victim of the plane crash and their loved ones.

[Gerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It starts with a plane crash in a fairly remote rural location and charts the lives of some of those directly affected in the area closest to the tragedy.

It is a very human story with real characters in almost everyday situations against the backdrop of the disaster which does and sometime doesn't have any impact on their lives and relationships.

I know that all sounds very vague but in essence that is what it is about, a group of people and their feelings, relationships and interactions. It is well written and maintained my interest all the way through. A gentle read maybe, but one worth undertaking in my opinion.

[Phyllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Lennon’s debut novel and I can’t believe it’s been around for 27 years without my knowing of it. If I had read it 27 years ago, I would not have been missing out on all of the books he’s written since then; but nor would I have his amazing backlist in my future. This is the year I intend to read all of them. And I am equally excited in the knowledge that he is continuing to write.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was about survivor's guilt, but I'm not sure.

[Ruth P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deceptively simple book that actually had great depth...calm,thoughtful and reminiscent of Ann Patchett.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. I started 3 books this week and didn't like any of them and quit which is unusual for me - I tend to keep going even if I'm not overly enamored by the book, but no more. Too many books on my shelves to continue with one any that are really not interesting me. I'm always afraid I will have made a mistake when I quit on a book but I found it is really freeing when I just give up and get another one off my shelf and just move on. So having said that, I started this book and I don't even know how I ended up with it. I just got it in December but it is an older book, copy write 1997, Britain and must have come from one of the many places that send me reviews of many books. It is this author's debut and I don't plan on looking into any of the other books he has written even though this one wasn't terrible. It started out great but somewhere just went off track for me and I was thinking I should have given up on it also but I was too far into to it to stop and in the end it was OK but I would not have missed anything if I had just quit. Just not all that exciting and I'm not sure what he wanted us to get out of it-survivor's guilt because this one character did not die in the plane crash???? Part of the story was ok, he pretty much tied everything up and the title is wonderful but I'm afraid it led me to believe the book was going to be something other than what it was. He wrote a number of interesting thoughts; example..."People will go to the greatest lengths to convince themselves of what they want to believe." I liked that a lot and there were a few others but overall a below average read for me.

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read, albeit a little confusing in parts. The overall story is clear, as it details the lives of a host of people, intertwined by fate and their own hopes.

I found it a little messy in parts, but addictive enough to want to read on. Despite this, I found myself making fast progress and was not actually bored at any point during the reading.

The imagery in the book was good and the personalities of the characters were strong too.

I had originally attempted to read this book approximately 10 years ago, but due to life events did not get further than the second chapter roughly. It is not until Autumn 2017 that I finally decided to complete it, and overall am glad that I did.

[Linda Suter · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I’m rounding up to 4 because the beginning of the book had me totally engrossed. The ending was a little slow, but overall a good read. The book starts out with a plane crash and I thought the book would be all about the crash, but what it was really about (in my opinion) was the effect this event had on people directly or indirectly involved. All of us have had those events in life that make you take stock, question decisions you’ve made and a lot of the time lead to big changes. I identified with each characters struggles in some way, and I thought the author did a good job of following each character’s development through to the end.

[Tamara Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

was a nice change of pace to have a book's setting not be in the same old 2 or 3 states.
loved the concept of life changes due to a plane crash & especially the lives of the characters before the crash. also loved that there were a lot of characters, though I feel few were fully developed. but the numbers helped to counteract the 1 or 2 annoying characters.
not a feel-good kind of a bk, btw. quite a bit of depression & sadness.
appropriate but unsatisfying ending.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 Stars. Debut from Lennon. Half a dozen (or so) loosely intertwined stories revolving around the central mcguffin of a plane crash. I wasn't taking notes, but I'm pretty sure I remember most of the characters never meeting each other, so that what this book ends up being is a cleverly-edited anthology. I actually wish Lennon had just focused one or two of the stories (the story could have definitely focused on the Italian immigrant who survives the crash). Worth a look.

[Elizabeth Hausler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is very nice with lovely descriptive passages and the concept is interesting and somewhat unique-how tragedy affects people peripherally related to that tragedy and how one carries on after such an event. Some of the characterizations are also good, although I was a little confused by some of the actions and motivations of some of the characters. In spite of these positives I was not greatly engaged with the story and I found it somewhat disappointing.

[Ldw39 · Rating 3 out of 5]

What author waits until the 281st page to tell you that a main character has a southern US accent?! I’d been reading him as midwestern up until that point. Oversight or purposeful and if purposeful, to what end? This books had fascinating characters and a great premise but lacked a point until the last line, making it, at times, a frustrating read.

[Tom Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book started well and I liked Lennon's writing, the characters were 3 dimensional. My problem was I got lost a bit with when he went too far afield with characters that had only a slight, if that, relation to the actual plane crash. I didn't see much in the way of resolution either. Of course, how much resolution do we see in actual life itself? Not so much.

[Rachel LaForge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good sad hopeful book. Great character development as each one processes grief and change to some extent. There were a couple pieces I would have loved clarification of the Hamish appearances (and where he was leading her?), the reason for the plane crash, and the roll of film that Paul found. Loved the ending ~ sono vivo! (I am alive!)

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing and there were parts I would have underlined if it hadn't been a library book, but somehow it fell short for me.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really a 3.5. Beautifully written, with a great story concept. Just meandered too much in the middle. But definitely a worthwhile read.

[Jean Carlton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entered 2019
Read 2000
I rate every book entereed years later as 2 stars (ok) unless i starred the entry in my original log.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disjointed.

[AL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn’t sure what to expect from this but I found it unique and a great observation of everyday people’s lives even amidst a horrible accident, it is the characters who are center stage.

[Jan Norton · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was OK but it did not pull me in. I feel like it didn’t deliver what I was expecting. I ended up not liking any of the characters. Bernard’s story was a little out there and unbelievable.

[Steve Beed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book, I Found it hard to put it down.

[Thyled Dando · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this and the range of characters that were intertwined throughout. I will definitely read another by this author

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book well enough, which I guess translates into a B-. The minus is for forgettability, because I don't think much from this book will stick with me. I think it's the early work of a good writer with better books ahead of him (well, behind him now, because this was published in 1997 and Lennon has put out several novels since then. The one I really want to read, "Pieces for the Left Hand," hasn't been published in the U.S. And his latest books is being serialized in Harper's, so that's not something I can lay my hands on right now either. Hence dipping into the back catalog).

A plane crashes in Montana, and Lennon follows the emotional aftermath of several people touched in some way by the disaster. Paul and Anita witness the crash while in the midst of a marital squabble -- their marriage was crumbling before, but the crash seems to hasten the end as it brings Anita into contact with the uncle of one of the crash victims. Lars loses his girlfriend Megan in the crash and struggles through his grief while befriending Christine, who is waiting in a trailer parked at the Safeway for a kidney transplant to save her life. Trixie's ex-husband Hamish was on the flight, coming to visit her after decades apart because there was something he wanted to say. Now she sees his ghost drifting through her house, and she wonders if she can reach past her estranged daughter to contact her grandchildren, to impart some knowledge of herself before it's too late. Bernardo is the sole survivor of the crash; he's been hiding in the woods and then at Anita and Paul's house, afraid to face the wreckage of his life.

The fragmented stories are all interesting, but by meandering from character to character and episode to episode, Lennon sacrifices narrative drive. There are some connections between some of these people (Anita and Paul interact with Bernardo, Paul meets Lars) but others, like Trixie, exist in isolation. There is very little resolution -- Anita leaves Paul, Bernardo finds his son, Trixie meets her grandchildren. But what is Paul going to do next? What about his obsessive interest in his boss's teen-age daughter? What does that mean and where is it going?

The book is very much a slice, actually several slices, of lives in progress. Which is fine. But I think in order to be more memorable the books should either be more unified or more disparate -- just shatter them into distinct stories. Which is what I *think* he's probably done with "Pieces for the Left Hand," and if I can get my hands on an imported Granta copy, I'll be able to confirm or deny that.

"Over lunch he told her what he'd been thinking. He told her a lot of other things he'd thought about too, and to his surprise she not only understood them, but seemed genuinely interested in the entire act of thinking. She shared some of her own ideas. Tax breaks for people who grew their own food, book-buying subsidies for the poor, electric cars you could charge by hooking them up to an exercise bike."

"Though she lived alone, she was rarely lonely; only when she was forced to wait for someone else did the quiet take on weight and become a palpable enemy."

"She had the scattered feeling she always got when events conspired to mess things up, and nothing exhausted and frustrated her more than a mess she was incapable of fixing."

"What she wanted was really two things: to be elsewhere, and to be somebody else. Or at least a version of herself that had made better decisions, that had thought more clearly."

"It was of passing interest to him that one of them laid silent claim to every object in the house, that, unlike a lot of couples he'd known or read about, neither ever forgot what was whose."

"Nothing had ever seemed so burdensome as leaving his burdens forever."

[Jessica Haider · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Light of Falling Stars" is a debut novel by J. Robert Lennon. In light of events of September 2001, I found this book to be haunting and insightful. It follows several residents of the small town of Marshall, Montana after a plane crashes in some woods on the outskirts of town. Of the over 50 passengers kiled in the crash, 31 of them are from Marshall. But the book doesn't tell the tale of those who were killed, it instead focuses on those that they left behind.
Paul and Anita Beveridge live in a renovated fishing cabin on the edge of a National Wilderness area. They are a young married couple whose relationship is faltering. They are out in their backyard arguing on a hot August evening when the plane's engine clips the corner of the roof of their cabin and they witness the plane crashing in the nearby forest. Lars Gowgill is a young man who goes with his friend to pick his girlfriend, Megan, up at the airport after she spent the summer in Seattle with her family. Trixie Bogen is a lonely, old women who lives by herself in Marshall and she is awaiting the arrival of her ex-husband.

The novel explores the story of these characters in the aftermath of the crash. It shows how they handle the loss, how it effects each of them, and how they learn to continue with their lives after the tragedy. The story delves into love, loss, mourning, and relationships.

The writing in "The Light of Falling Stars" is simple and beautiful. The writing captured my attention immediately and kept me turning the pages. The novel offers an excellent exploration of human emotions in the aftermath of tragedy.

[Peter Panic McDaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have an affinity for authors whose main protagonist is bumbling, lost, searching for something but ultimately clueless as to what or where it is. It's probably an apt description for my own life really. That's probably why this book has stuck with me so long. By no means a really great book, it's really just okay, but I can see great things in the future for this guy. In fact, I cannot wait to see what else he has written. It's a very nice introduction to an author who may well rank in with my other faves (Murakami-san, Auster, Chang-Rae Lee, etc).
But gushing aside, I love the remoteness of the setting and wish he drew more of Montana into his storyline. For me, sometimes the setting drives the point a little further (Erdrich's Pluto, ND or Robinson's Fingerbone, ID.) I want to feel like I live there, and everyone knows their surroundings is integral to their own personal misery. As is Lennon's Montana, but unfortunately it wasn't written that way. All in all, I look forward to reading more from him and expect incredibly good things.

[Katie Byrum · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, but not great -- this book missed the zeitgeist on the plane crash survivor theme. In a pre-Lost, pre-Survivor world, this probably would have fascinated me more, but at this point it's a stock narrative and feels expected.

The characters are, for the most part, well-imagined, though some feel more three-dimensional than others (the way he writes most of the women--the older ones especially--felt a little half-hearted and stereotypical). A few too many unfortunate cliches for me, and a lot of first novel-y things - strange names of people and restaurants that he'd probably thought of eons ago and saved up to cram them all in the first book.

That said, I've heard great things about Pieces for the Left Hand and Castle, and reading this doesn't deter me at all, it just wasn't my bag.