Starlight

by Fergus O'Connell

July 1916 and in France, the Battle of the Somme rages. In November, when he turns eighteen, Lewis Friday must join the Army. Until then he has the summer. He goes to Cornwall and falls in love with Helen, a separated woman twenty years his senior. Eventually he goes to war and somehow manages to survive, sustained by her letters.But just as the war ends and he will be reunited with her, she stops writing and vanishes. Devastated and grief-stricken by the loss of everything he had hoped for, Lewis sets out to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.This is a book for anyone who has ever had a love affair. If you've ever known the disbelief and wonderment as the new love begins, the joy of discovery, the golden bliss when the relationship becomes established and the heart-withering sorrow when it falls apart, you will want to read this book. Written with exquisite period detail, it is a beautiful and complex story that takes the reader to unexpected places of the heart.Fergus O'Connell's previous novel, 'Call The Swallow', was short listed for the 2002 Kerry Ingredients Irish Fiction Prize and nominated for the Hughes & Hughes / Sunday Independent Novel of the Year.

337 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2011

About the author

My mum read Treasure Island to me when I was four and I think that was when I decided to become a writer.

I used to think I’d like to spend all my time writing, but spending all day alone in a room with your imaginary friends isn’t necessarily the healthiest way to pass the time. (It’s easy to see why so many great writers’ best friend has been the whisky bottle!) So I also write books and teach and speak on project management. I’ve written sixteen non-fiction books and had seven novels published. My most recent, The Paradise Ghetto is now in development based on my own screenplay.

I’ve been shortlisted for prizes – the Kerry Ingredients Irish Fiction Prize for my first novel, Call The Swallow; in non-fiction, for my book on common sense, Simply Brilliant which was runner-up in the W H Smith Book Awards. My books have been translated into twenty-five languages.

So far, all my novels have been set during wartime but I don’t think of myself as a war novelist. I write about people caught up in great events and how they try to find love in the most difficult of circumstances.

I’m widowed, have two grown-up children and have lived in lots of places. Currently I’m living in England but that could be about to change.

Reviews

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novel received courtesy of Goodreads.com giveaway

"Starlight" is both a beautifully written love story and realistically written history of trench warfare during WWI. The juxtaposition of these two subjects make this novel a thought provoking read. Mr. O'Connell's research is evident in his portrayal of the horrors of WWI.

Lewis Friday, a 17-year old English boy, is spending his "last" summer before he is sent to France to fight in the war in Cornwall, England. His father sent him there to become more self confident and self reliant before he joins the army.

Helen, a 39 year-old woman, is spending her summer in Cornwall after she has made the decision to leave her husband who is away fighting the war in France. She feels as though she is suffocating in a marriage where she is expected to be something she is not.

Their story is told by alternating between Lewis at war and looking back at the blossoming of the relationship between Lewis and Helen. The relationship is complicated by Lewis' feelings about his mother's death when he was 8-years old and by the appearance of Helen's brother-in-law who has been sent to find her by her husband. As Lewis' months at war continue on, Helen's letters sustain him. But, near the end of his service, the letters stop.

I would recommend the book as both history and romance. Fergus O'Connell gives his characters realistic voices during a horrific period of history. His words and descriptions are beautifully written and will remain with the reader to think about for some time.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I WON THIS NOVEL ON YOUR WONDERFUL WEBSITE, IT'S AN AWESOME BOOK. I FEEL FOR LEWIS BEING IN THE WAR AND AWAY FROM HIS GIRLFRIEND/LOVER HELEN!!! IT'S GOOD SO FAR!!! LEWIS DISAPPOINTED ME, CAUSE NUMBER 0NE, YOU DON'T HAVE AN AFFAIR WITH A UNHAPPY MARRIED WOMAN, WHO IS SO CONFUSE AND WEAK, BUT OF COURSE, THEY REFOUND EACH OTHER, AT THE END

[David]

it was a great book full of exciting things and romance my type of book! I loved it!