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Naming the Stars: A poignant, moving Irish novel of old age, loss and friendship
Flora's father has been killed in the Battle of El Alamein, one of the many victims of the Second World War. For Flora and her mother, life will never be the same again. At least they have their memories, of the love he showed them, the Desert Lullaby that he sang, the legacy of the well-stocked wine cellar lurking beneath their cavernous home.Now, it's just Flora - and Nellie, the family's life-long housekeeper - left; to reminisce in old age, to float and drift over the joys, losses and mysteries of childhood. Flora's brother, Eddie, is also gone. Who, now, will believe the story of the grey silk dress, and of what really happened between Eddie and Flora at the end of that long Irish summer?Intimate, elegiac and profoundly moving, Naming the Stars is an exquisite story of love, loss and memory from one of Ireland's best-loved writers.
91 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 5, 2015
5 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Johnston
41 books100 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Jennifer Johnston was an Irish novelist. She won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards (2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.
Jennifer Johnston was an Irish novelist. She won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards (2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 29, 2017
This was a quick read. I gave it 4.5 rather than 5 as it didn't quite get all the way to awesome for me. But it is a book that is hard to leave behind. It is a haunting story. Flora is now past middle-aged and living with her housekeeper. We know she had been "put away" for years in an English hospital. After her mother's death, she returns to Ireland. In this novella, the full story unfolds.
This was published in print form along with Two Moons, an earlier novel by Johnston. I am taking a break from Johnston to read something different. This was the Irish Times Book Club choice for June, 2017. I do like the fact that they feature new emerging authors, but am happy that this month they went back to honor an established, but somewhat neglected, writer.
This was published in print form along with Two Moons, an earlier novel by Johnston. I am taking a break from Johnston to read something different. This was the Irish Times Book Club choice for June, 2017. I do like the fact that they feature new emerging authors, but am happy that this month they went back to honor an established, but somewhat neglected, writer.
August 2, 2016
Another beautiful novella from one of the greatest prose writers of Ireland. A haunting story of love, loss and memory, using the author's much and well tested device of an older woman looking back over her life, using beautiful words and descriptions to convey her feelings as she looks back over her life. I am used to her books being novellas but felt this finished all too quickly. Also in this volume is Two Moons, a favourite of mine when I read it a few years ago.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.
October 17, 2017
Naming the Stars
A story about the price and consequences of promises kept and shared.
This is a deeply sad story, even if it doesn’t quite read that way. Flora and Nellie only rarely, and for short periods of time, allow the heartache each of them experienced to colour their moments. Most of the time they float along on a stream of long established habits; pushing away thoughts and truths that might disturb their quiet existence.
On the night described in this novella, they commemorate the last time they saw Eddie, decades earlier. He was Flora’s brother and Nellie’s secret crush and betrayed both of them in ways he was unaware of, shaping their lives while he threw his own life away. This night, for reasons that are neither explained nor obvious, they share their feelings and secrets, almost destroying the decades long and mostly artificial equilibrium between them.
The events Flora shares with Nellie are shocking and heartbreaking, and yet they are revealed in an almost emotionless manner, as if lives lost, denied, and thrown away are hardly worth mentioning. Because, the secret shared is of course one that some would say should never see the light of day.
This is the sort of story you’ll read with relative ease only for its full impact to hit you after you’ve closed the book. Only then do all the ‘what if’s’ and ‘if only’s’ hit you with full force, leaving you feeling heartbroken for all involved.
And yet, no matter how much this is a story of love, it is also a tale of human resilience and the power of our minds to keep us going. I think it will take me a few more days before I figure out whether this was a depressing or ultimately uplifting tale. Right now all I’m sure about is that it was memorable.
“I’ve always wondered why the Americans consider happiness to be a right; of course it isn’t. It’s a prize that comes, sometimes for no reason at all.”
Two Moons
Like Counting the Stars, Two Moons is a story about secrets, although maybe in a different form. Whereas in the novella the main character had a shocking secret to share, in this story it is Mimi who just before she dies at last learns the secret that condemned her marriage.
I don’t want to say too much about what that secret is or how it is to be revealed, except to say that it will be achieved through the advocacy of a most charming, Italian, angel. By the time the ‘secret’ was at last revealed on the page I had long since guessed its nature — correctly. But then again, I think maybe I was supposed to do so, the clues were there to be found, even if Mimi either didn’t see them or refused to recognise them.
There are so many betrayals in this book; between husband and wife, mother and daughter, boyfriend and girlfriend. The characters face a constant battle between right and wrong, their own needs versus those of others, obligations versus desires. And yet, this is by no means a heavy book, nor is it depressing. It is a gentle tale in which potentially shocking occurrences float by, barely noteworthy and yet so very significant.
I like the touch of magical realism in this story. Mimi’s visitations can’t be written off as hallucinations, or signs of a crumbling mind, even if that’s what they appear to be at first.
“Do you mean to say that you are merely a figment of my imagination?”
“I never suggested any such thing. Some voice in you called and I came.”
I loved that the angel who may not have been an angel, left physical proof of his presence behind. It gave the story yet another layer of intrigue and, at times, a whimsical quality.
Also like its companion story, Two Moons is the sort of story to stick with you. It reveals all its various layers slowly; one after the other. I have no doubt that this story too will continue to play on mind for days to come.
Overall I have to say that I’m delighted I picked this book for my reading group this month. I had no idea what to expect before I started reading and was very pleasantly surprised by what I found between the covers. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll have to read more of Johnston’s books; her well written, easy to read, yet thought-provoking stories do strike a chord in me.
A story about the price and consequences of promises kept and shared.
This is a deeply sad story, even if it doesn’t quite read that way. Flora and Nellie only rarely, and for short periods of time, allow the heartache each of them experienced to colour their moments. Most of the time they float along on a stream of long established habits; pushing away thoughts and truths that might disturb their quiet existence.
On the night described in this novella, they commemorate the last time they saw Eddie, decades earlier. He was Flora’s brother and Nellie’s secret crush and betrayed both of them in ways he was unaware of, shaping their lives while he threw his own life away. This night, for reasons that are neither explained nor obvious, they share their feelings and secrets, almost destroying the decades long and mostly artificial equilibrium between them.
The events Flora shares with Nellie are shocking and heartbreaking, and yet they are revealed in an almost emotionless manner, as if lives lost, denied, and thrown away are hardly worth mentioning. Because, the secret shared is of course one that some would say should never see the light of day.
This is the sort of story you’ll read with relative ease only for its full impact to hit you after you’ve closed the book. Only then do all the ‘what if’s’ and ‘if only’s’ hit you with full force, leaving you feeling heartbroken for all involved.
And yet, no matter how much this is a story of love, it is also a tale of human resilience and the power of our minds to keep us going. I think it will take me a few more days before I figure out whether this was a depressing or ultimately uplifting tale. Right now all I’m sure about is that it was memorable.
“I’ve always wondered why the Americans consider happiness to be a right; of course it isn’t. It’s a prize that comes, sometimes for no reason at all.”
Two Moons
Like Counting the Stars, Two Moons is a story about secrets, although maybe in a different form. Whereas in the novella the main character had a shocking secret to share, in this story it is Mimi who just before she dies at last learns the secret that condemned her marriage.
I don’t want to say too much about what that secret is or how it is to be revealed, except to say that it will be achieved through the advocacy of a most charming, Italian, angel. By the time the ‘secret’ was at last revealed on the page I had long since guessed its nature — correctly. But then again, I think maybe I was supposed to do so, the clues were there to be found, even if Mimi either didn’t see them or refused to recognise them.
There are so many betrayals in this book; between husband and wife, mother and daughter, boyfriend and girlfriend. The characters face a constant battle between right and wrong, their own needs versus those of others, obligations versus desires. And yet, this is by no means a heavy book, nor is it depressing. It is a gentle tale in which potentially shocking occurrences float by, barely noteworthy and yet so very significant.
I like the touch of magical realism in this story. Mimi’s visitations can’t be written off as hallucinations, or signs of a crumbling mind, even if that’s what they appear to be at first.
“Do you mean to say that you are merely a figment of my imagination?”
“I never suggested any such thing. Some voice in you called and I came.”
I loved that the angel who may not have been an angel, left physical proof of his presence behind. It gave the story yet another layer of intrigue and, at times, a whimsical quality.
Also like its companion story, Two Moons is the sort of story to stick with you. It reveals all its various layers slowly; one after the other. I have no doubt that this story too will continue to play on mind for days to come.
Overall I have to say that I’m delighted I picked this book for my reading group this month. I had no idea what to expect before I started reading and was very pleasantly surprised by what I found between the covers. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll have to read more of Johnston’s books; her well written, easy to read, yet thought-provoking stories do strike a chord in me.
June 22, 2016
Two novellas in one volume from the wonderful Jennifer Johnston – Naming the Stars and Two Moons. Love, loss, regret, disappointment – all of Johnston’s trademark themes are here, narrated in her usual lyrical and evocative prose, with never a wasted word or a word too many. Both novellas are about an aging woman looking back and gradually revealing to the reader the secrets and evasions that have haunted their lives. Moving and compelling reading.
June 16, 2016
Beautiful lyrical writing. I though there was a lot more substance to the novel, Two Moons, than to the novella. There was a pleasing symmetry to the duo companion edition, though, with portrayals of old age, aging and the flashbacks to youth and the past.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews