Starry Starry Night: a novel

by Shani Mootoo

Out of the frayed filaments of the yarn of memory, a cohesive tale is spun.

In Starry Starry Night, Shani Mootoo gives us the singular voice of Anju Goshal, a young girl living in 1960s Trinidad. Spanning her life between the ages of four and twelve, we experience the world just as Anju does, coming to understand she has evolved into a keen observer because her safety depends on it. Through her clear-eyed perspective, the reader is fully transported and becomes both a witness to and participant in Anju's negotiations of an unexpectedly new and complex life.

Starry Starry Night illuminates the experiences of a well-off and socially advancing family during the turn of a country's fortunes. Thoughtfully articulated via the innocent commentary of a child, the book tackles larger issues of family, loss, and trauma. It relays the story of a British colony just before and after its independence and touches on the racial and class problems faced as a result of colonialism.

Beautifully crafted and rich with sumptuous detail, this unique narrative coalesces into a portrait of a child who, despite privileged appearances, must become independent and fend for herself. It also depicts adults who, while so wrapped up in their own dramas, fail to see the needs of the children who depend on them. Starry Starry Night is an innovative and revelatory work of autofiction from a celebrated voice in contemporary fiction.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Canada, Literary Fiction, Queer

372 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2025

About the author

Shani Mootoo, writer, visual artist and video maker, was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1957 to Trinidadian parents. She grew up in Trinidad and relocated at age 24 to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She currently lives in Toronto, Canada.

Reviews

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

That poor, poor child!😭

While reading Starry Starry Night, I had a strong sense it was “auto-fiction”, but I couldn’t confirm that until I’d finished the book. Apparently, Shani Mootoo says she began writing the book 40 years ago—even before her first book was published. She admits it was based heavily on her own childhood. In fact, many of her own family photos appear in this book, accompanying a story that closely mirrors her own life. Very similar to the story in the book, Mootoo was born in Ireland where her father was completing a medical degree. When her mother became very ill after giving birth to her, she was sent to Trinidad—as an infant—to be raised by her maternal grandparents. When they returned to Trinidad five years later, they were virtual strangers to her. The similarities between Mootoo and the book’s main character, Anju, are abundant, including the sexual abuse both she and Anju suffered as children. Mootoo explained the reason it took so long for her to return to the story. By now, both parents had passed away; she stated she did not want them to know the scars they had left on her while they were alive.😢

Starry, Starry Night is the story of the Ghoshal family. Anju was just six years old when the family she believed to be strangers—but who were, in fact, her real parents—and their two young children, arrived in Trinidad from Ireland. Until then, Anju had been living with her maternal grandparents, believing them to be her mother and father. The three of them were very close, but when these "strangers" arrived, she was told she must now call them Mummy and Daddy. Soon after, she was forced to stay with them in their new home, at first for just a few days but, eventually, for always. She missed her “Ma” and “Pa” tremendously and was very sad and confused! It took years for her to work out what had really happened, and only because she was such a perceptive, intuitive little girl. No one told her anything, but she watched every move and listened to every word, eventually putting the pieces together in her mind. She understood now why, for years, she’d felt like an outsider, and wondered why she’d been forced to live with these people.

The story follows Anju and the family until she’s about 12 years old. During this time, she struggles with much internal angst, including issues of a gender and sexual nature. She ultimately comes to understand it’s probably best to keep her mouth shut and her feelings to herself.😟 The closing pages of this story were some of the saddest, most heart-breaking I have ever read.💔

I give this excellent book my highest possible recommendation.

5 “Loneliness–is–feeling–like–a–stranger–in–your–own–family” stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Davina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shani Mootoo, take your five stars and go. My HEART. My sweet Anju. Ugh.

Set in 1960s Trinidad, Starry Starry Night follows Anju, a young girl growing up in the care of her grandparents while her parents are away studying in Ireland. Spanning ages four to twelve, we watch Anju slowly become aware of the complexities of the adult world: family expectations, trauma, emotional neglect, and the painful realization that love isn’t always simple or gentle. Told through the innocent yet perceptive eyes of a child, the novel delivers a powerful and emotional coming-of-age journey.

The culture is rich and beautifully rendered—from the food to the homes to the atmosphere—you can almost smell the spices and feel the heat rising from the pages. Mootoo’s pacing is consistent and deliberate, slowly tightening the emotional grip with each chapter. The heartbreak begins almost immediately after chapter one, and it does not let go.

What makes this story even more devastating is Anju’s understanding, or lack thereof, of her place in the world. A soft spoiler here: she believes her grandparents are her parents, until one day, the adults who left return to take her away from the only home she knows. And even though they love her, it’s done so carelessly, so thoughtlessly, that your heart breaks right alongside hers. From that point on, Anju is surrounded by adult dramas, grief and complex love, and no one stops to see how it all affects her.

This is a quietly powerful novel. It's emotional, evocative, and utterly gutting in the most tender way. Mootoo writes with care and clarity, and Anju’s voice will linger long after the final page.

This book is perfect for readers who appreciate emotional, character-driven stories told through the lens of childhood. If you enjoy literary fiction with rich cultural settings, slow-burning emotional tension, and a focus on family, memory, and identity, this one will hit hard.

[Amarah H-S]

read my thoughts here: https://thewalrus.ca/best-books-2025/

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I have never been to Trinidad but this book depicted it so richly that in my mind I have. Seriously, I feel like I can touch, taste smell and see Trinidad.

Told from the perspective of a young girl named Anju, there are times this book absolutely ripped my heart out the trauma and neglect were so palpable. Anju’s naïveté made it that much more devastating. Brilliantly done.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

|| STARRY STARRY NIGHT || #gifted @bookhugpress
Genre: Literary Fiction/Auto Fiction

November was a crazy month for me and escaping into this book was a welcomed reprieve. This book is a moving and magnificent work. It's richly written and emotionally charged. I loved it!

"Mummy's posture has changed. She has become very still as if she isn't breathing. And yet as also feels as if she is about to explode. Everyone is quiet in the car. Here, towering waves look as if they are being pushed hard and fast toward the shore and will break and race up on to the road."
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[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved STARRY STARRY NIGHT by Shani Mootoo! It was great to buddy read this indie CanLit novel with Kate and we both loved it. It’s about a young girl, Anju, living in 1960s Trinidad who enters a new phase in her family life. I loved the writing and how the story is told in Anju’s perspective. We as the reader and Anju are both discovering as the story unfolds and she grows up. I found this book quite sad and it did made me cry at the end. I really enjoyed the main themes of fractured family dynamics, class disparity and the distances between generations. This book is featured on the Indie Bookstores Fall 2025 #thebooksellerslist and I highly recommend it too!

Thank you to the publisher for my copy!

[Whatithinkaboutthisbook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starry Starry Night: A Novel by Shani Mootoo
Pub Date: Sept 23/25

Starry Starry Night is an emotionally evocative gift, an invitation to experience the world through the eyes of a child. In this tender novel Anju, recounts her childhood in 1960’s Trinidad, with the reader, from ages of 4 to 12, with remarkable perceptiveness, sensitivity and insight. Her keen observations and her sensory rich perspective immerses you in a vibrant cultural landscape, full of the smells and tastes of local food, the natural beauty of the ocean and flowers, most poignantly the warmth and security of her grandparents love.

Raised lovingly by her grandparents, Ma and Pa while her father studies medicine abroad, Anju’s safe and familiar world is upended when her parents and siblings return from Ireland. Having no memory of them she is confused about who they are and her relationship to them, and devastated by her forced separation from the only home she has ever known.

Mootoo spectacularly captures the grief, confusion and sense of displacement that follows. Anju’s struggle to understand where she belongs is heart wrenching. It is deeply affecting to see her learn to keep herself small and navigate the emotional dissonance around her. The contrast between what is said and what is felt is portrayed with heartbreaking precision, as Anju tries to make sense of dynamics she can’t fully grasp.

The novel is emotionally layered capturing not just Anju’s pain, but also the sorrow around her: a grandmother relinquishing the child she raised, and a mother returning to a daughter who doesn’t know her.

This is a tender beautifully written story of family, identity and belonging. With insight and grace, it pulls at every heart string.

[lindsay.books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good. Told from the point of view of Anju, a young girl being raised by her grandparents in Trinidad, we see how her life is upended upon her parents’ return. The author captured a child’s point of view so perfectly - the assumptions, the confusion, the strong emotions.  I also felt like I'd traveled to Trinidad - the weather, food, and cultural events are all described so well. I found this book quite sad - Anju was so lonely most of the time - but it was excellent. 

[Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the heart of this book is Anjula, a young girl whose traumatic childhood is rendered with striking tenderness. The child’s voice is not naïve but deeply perceptive, carrying the weight of experiences that are too heavy for her years. This tension between innocence and trauma creates a haunting resonance throughout the narrative. As autofiction, the novel raises the question: how much of Anjula’s story belongs to Mootoo herself, and how much is invention?

[Lucy Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shani Mootoo’s Starry Starry Night is a heart-wrenching tale told by Anju, a four year-old girl living with her grandparents in the Trinidad of the 1960s. At the beginning of the novel, her parents are in Ireland where her father is qualifying as a medical doctor. When the couple returns to Trinidad they bring two other children with them and, without explanation, Anju is expected to transition into a new family unit. Anju grieves the comfort and intimacy she shared with her Ma and Pa. The political landscape of unrest serves as a significant undercurrent to the book, with Anju’s father becoming involved in the process of Trinidad achieving its independence in 1962. While the country struggles with the necessity for radical social and political change, Anju is fighting her own war trying to assimilate and meet the expectations of adults she does not know or understand. The layered story highlights the complexities of trauma, abuse, marital infidelity, grief and identity. The first-person narrator creates a flawless series of observations about the world around her, including rich descriptions of the country, food, landscape and the individuals who people her life. Compelling, evocative and assured, Anju’s voice is memorable and will resonate deeply with readers. Highly recommended.

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You can play with others, do what you are told to do, and laugh and speak nicely, but all of that comes from the outside of your body. Inside you feel that sadness coming, and you try but you mustn't show this. That’s OK, because that way you don’t make others unhappy, too or make them angry.”

Anju Ghoshal, as narrator, describes her life in 1960’s Trinidad from ages four to twelve. She lives with her adoring Ma and Pa. “Ma is strong and pretty like a bunch of pink and yellow flowers…” “I sleep against Ma under a mosquito net.” “Pa sings to me while I am on his lap…we go to football games…he would buy me oysters.”

Everything was about to change. At age six, Anju overhears a telephone conversation. Ma says, “We did our best and loved every minute of it. So proud of Suresh. We are so proud to have a doctor in the family…Anju…say ‘Hello Mummy’ on the phone.” “Who are these people? Their names are Mummy and Daddy and there are two children to play with…I feel as if I need to ask a question, but I don’t know what the question is.” They arrive from Ireland: Daddy, Mummy, my sister, Tara and brother, Anil. “That family is staying and staying, as if they are living in our house, too”. Anju is told that the woman is her Mummy. “You call her Mummy. Just Mummy. I think I understand but not really. My tummy hurts.”

Anju’s Ruminations

-”Just because Daddy is a doctor, it doesn’t mean he knows everything, especially about Trinidad.”

-”Mummy smiles and laughs and talks a great deal with Anil and Tara, but she doesn’t with me…Whenever she looks at me, she looks sad, or maybe annoyed…I feel as if I am doing something wrong.”

-”I am not supposed to let adults know when I don’t like them. Good children don’t make others feel bad…” even when Uncle John tells me it is a “game”. He claims that Ma will die if she finds out.

-”The neighbors are not people we are allowed to talk to because Pa says so. We’re not even supposed to look in their direction.”

-”Ma has died. “I don’t think I should miss Ma as much as Mummy does. Sometimes the feelings go away, but they always sneak up again…only girls and women like Mummy cry, I don’t want to be like them, so even when it is difficult, I am strict with myself and do not allow myself to make any sound…I know what it is like to miss Ma, too. In my head I practice the words: Mummy, I miss Ma, too.”

Author Shani Mootoo had written a work of literary fiction infused with the sights, sounds and culinary flavors of 1960’s Trinidad as viewed through the eyes of an inquisitive young girl. Anju Ghoshal is a lonely, neglected, serious child. Her world is changing as Trinidad gains its independence. While her parents focus on power and their new found wealth, the children’s needs are moved to the back burner although the appearance of privilege is maintained.

Highly recommended.

Thank you Reid Millar@ Book*hug Press for a Print ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Eaton Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Note: I received a review copy of this book courtesy of River Street Writing. Thank you, and for your patience as I read this during illness.)

What Madeleine Thien said:

“This is is Shani Mootoo’s masterpiece.”
MADELEINE THIEN, AUTHOR OF THE BOOK OF RECORDS

First, the incandescent writing. Well, well done. Mootoo makes her setting, Trinidad, jump alive; I can still feel the Caribbean sand under my feet, see the crabs scuttling on the beach, hear the clacking of the palms, hear the music of Carnival. Thanks to Mootoo’s skills as a writer, this becomes, for the reader, a book of sensate pleasures that moves along with flawless technique.

And of great, great love that is cruelly broken.

This autofiction spools out the childhood of Anju/Andru, a child we follow from four to twelve years old as Trinidad reaches 1962 independence. At first, Anju believes her loving and caring grandparents are her parents, and they don’t disabuse her of this even when her parents arrive from Ireland to take her over. She is to call the new people her mother and father and siblings, and to go with them, but no adult explains the situation. It feels like a kidnapping, and it’s one from which Anju/Andru never truly recovers, even after she’s assimilated into her new family. Her intense feelings of dislocation never vanish, even as her father, a doctor, becomes a politician with unpopular views—he supports abortion and legalizing prostitution. The family’s economics improve; they move to nicer and nicer homes, the last with a swimming pool where Anju/Andru is finally able to just hang out with her grandfather again, until she loses him, too, to ill health.

All through her dislocations, though, Anju/Andru has an unshakeable core of self-belief, acute observational skills, and keen artistic sensibilities, a kid who will take large gifts from her childhood to adult life. We, the readers, are fortunate to have met her.

[Alison Gadsby]

What does a reader want from a novel that you know is connected in many ways to the author’s personal history? A story written in the voice of a child who is physically rooted to a particular time and place, told with a unique presence of thought, as though the narrator were waking up each day and recalling the moments just as they happen. Moments we know are the emotional breath of the author’s childhood. STARRY STARRY NIGHT is more than I wanted it to be.

Spanning a few years in Trinidad, from primary school to convent school, from home to house, from neighbourhood to hillside mansion, Anju, a fictional narrator, tells us about her Ma and Pa, about how they raised her while her Mummy and Daddy went to school in Ireland. Anju expresses in the best way she can, the separation of her heart and body when her parents return and remove her from the only home she’s known. She describes the separation of mind and body as she experiences sexual abuse. She shares how desperately she wants to be a good girl, a good sister, a good daughter, even as she’s learning she “mustn’t bother to tell people your problems and mustn’t show your feelings to anyone.” Anjula is a talented young artist who sees her place, “Trinidad (and Tobago), West Indies, Caribbean, World, The Milky Way” reflected in the stars she wishes upon with her Pa, and she wonders, just as we all do, what is the meaning of all this living?

With the exact emotional voice of a young girl, one who doesn’t quite know who she is, but is seriously intent on knowing who she is, Mootoo delivers an introspective novel about learning how to grow up in a world that has separate rules for girls and boys. A novel of remembering, of the times in our lives we carry around like a precious and hefty rock in our back pocket. A novel about learning to be—for ourselves—who we want to be.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Book for Those Born Into Silence

How did the book make me feel/think?

Starry Starry Night by Shani Mootoo was the last book I read this year—and it rose straight to the top.

We follow Anju from ages four to twelve. From the beginning, she is an outsider in her life. The adults around her hide—convinced they themselves are not broken. In doing so, they scar her. Anju floats above the page, placed on a different plane by secrecy and silence.

She is curious, fearless, and unfiltered. When parts of your own story are withheld, you are left with intelligence, imagination, and doubt. You see what others miss. You question everything. You learn pain early. You look for belonging by inventing it.
This made the book profoundly personal for me. I was born into secrecy, and I recognized Anju immediately—not as a symbol, but as a state of being.

Mootoo’s prose is gorgeous; it sings. But its power lies in what it doesn’t explain. If you understand the ending of Starry Starry Night, it’s telling you something devastating and straightforward: you are not alone.

I once heard a young girl being pre-emptively scolded by her mother, “If you misbehave, I will embarrass you in front of all of these people.

The girl looked up and said, “I don’t know any of these people.”

That is Anju—living in the shadows of her own life, already several chapters ahead of the adults who think they’re leading her.

WRITTEN: 30 December 2025

[Jifu · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)

This is the first book to ever take me away to Trinidad - in this specific case, immediate pre and post-independence Trinidad - and did so quite successfully. Author Shanti Motoo made so many scenes come vividly alive, and many a time it felt like I was able to easily see, touch, smell, hear, and even taste everything myself. However, what really makes this a memorable read was how it made me experience this setting specifically through the eyes of its child protagonist, Anju, as she struggled to make sense and adapt to a plethora of changes over several years. Between her almost painfully straightforward observations and the challenges she struggled to adjust to despite all her best efforts, Starry Starry Night ended up being an achingly beautiful work that I’m glad I read, but also a book that definitely left my heart quite battered by the time it was over.

[Enid Wray · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is lots to unpack here, touching as it does on all manner of ‘issues’ including, but not limited to: racism (shadism), sexual abuse, family separation, the immigrant dream, political independence, death and grieving, gender (Anju wants to be a boy).

While I generally enjoyed this, I really struggled with the choice to write this in the third person POV. I get why that would be the choice, but overall there is a sense of disconnection. Most of the time that I’m reading I feel like a fly on the wall. As a reader, I’m kept at a distance never fully engaged with either character or story.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me access to an early digital review copy.

[Taslim Jaffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anju could very well be one of the most memorable narrators I’ve read. What skill and artistry Shani Mootoo demonstrates in creating this child with such perfection, I felt she could walk right off the page. This book is an invitation to pre and post colonial Trinidad, and into the lives of the many communities that found themselves together there. The photos throughout the book bring the characters and moments alive. Starry Starry Night is a study in literary fiction!

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was unlike anything I've read before! Beautifully written, heart-wrenching, and entirely enthralling, this work of autofiction had me captivated from page one!

I highly recommend this powerfully emotional book to anyone who enjoys literary fiction and appreciates a solid character-driven story rich in atmosphere with a focus on family and identity.

[Sandra Bjarnason · Rating 2 out of 5]

4

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shani Mootoo’s newest work, Starry Starry Night, is an intimate story of looking for belonging in a world that is determined to make you feel othered. The young narrator Anju Ghoshal searches for safety and acceptance in the people around her but is repeatedly met with rejection and trauma (TW: sexual abuse). In spite of the overwhelming hardship she faces, Anju manages to be laugh out loud funny and deeply endearing.

As always, Mootoo manages to fully immerse the reader in the world of their writing. Starry Starry Night transports you to the lush world of Trinidad in a time of political upheaval. The tension of a revolution feels as tangible as the aroma of home-cooked food coming from the kitchen and the foliage of the plants in the yard. Anju’s stories are interspersed with photos from the author’s childhood, which makes me wonder how much of the book is drawn from Mootoo’s own upbringing.

From the moment I started reading, I knew this book would earn my five star review. I would recommend it to just about anyone, but especially readers who are looking for multi-faceted narratives of LGBTQIA+ characters. Queer and trans characters are too often used as a trope but Mootoo consistently gives these characters dynamic stories before their gender or sexuality is mentioned.

Overall, this book is outstanding and Shani Mootoo should be proud. Thank you to Book*hug Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to be an advance reader.