Stella has always looked forward to changing the world. It’s what she was brought up to do, by a suffragette mother who knew all about fighting and rebellion. But it’s November 1918. The great flu pandemic sweeping the world has robbed Stella of her mother and her home, and she’s alone in a strange country, with an aunt she’s never met.
But change is coming – the war is over, and women are about to vote for the first time. History is being made, but how can she help make it? As election day approaches, a day that will transform Ireland forever, Stella realises that she can indeed change the world. Not alone, and not all at once. But just as stars come one by one to brighten the night sky, so history is made person by person, girl by girl.
Described in The Irish Times as 'one of our foremost writers for young people', Sheena Wilkinson is the author of eight acclaimed YA novels. She has won many awards for these, and for her short fiction. Her first adult novel, Mrs Hart's Marriage Bureau, a historical romantic comedy, is published by HarperCollins Ireland.
When I picked this up from the Book Trust's school library book pack and I saw, set in Ireland 1918, based on the suffragette movement, my first thoughts were, this looks interesting, but will students be attracted? They were, and picked it for our Book Group! It's the story of sweet and plucky Stella, an older teen who loses her political mother to the flu crisis. Her mother's dying wish is that Stella moves back to live with her Aunt Nancy, in a boarding house by the sea in Ulster. Stella is a modern suffragette, she's never even met her aunt, is moving to a small Irish town going to be a bad move? This is the best kind of historical fiction which just so happens to be YA. It fizzes and sparkles! Sheena Wilkinson has kept the characters fresh and modern and they jump off the page, pulling you into the flu epidemic and the latter days of World War One and how a young lady could have been affected by them. A perfect mix of the events of the time, mixed with strong storytelling. Heartbreaking things happened but they are tackled head-on yet sensitively. Stella is a really positive girl, a 'fixer' of sorts, she is determined to help shell-shocked Sandy, a convalescing army veteran who is hiding away int he boarding house. They have a touching friendship and help each other in a lot of ways. She is also determined to track down her mother's best friend Rose and have a reconciliation with her. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is that I felt slightly more could have been developed in the plot-line about Helen/Sandy and Stella's parentage but otherwise this is a great length and a pretty wonderful snapshot into a forgotten history. I will be reading more of this author! Well done to her and Little Island Press.
I loved this book. It is refreshing to read a novel aimed at young teenage girls that doesn’t have a romantic plot anywhere in sight. Fifteen-year-old Stella is a strong, feisty heroine who values female friendship, and has been brought up surrounded by strong female role models. Stella makes her way, alone, from the grubby streets of Manchester to a small seaside town in Co. Down, after the death of her mother from influenza. Her mother moved to Manchester when she found herself single and pregnant. She brought Stella up to fight for what she believes in, taking part in the suffrage movement there. Stella creates a role for herself in the sea-side boarding house run by her aunt Nancy, making herself useful. While Stella doesn’t always get things right, her strength and passion carry her through. Wilkinson is not afraid to tackle the difficult historical situation Ireland was in at the time and she tackles these issues with great subtlety.
My first read from this author, but won’t be my last. Young adults intended audience and well researched and written for that age group. Set in the north of Ireland before it became Northern Ireland and a light touch of war and politics to educate and inform. The characters come to life and the story deals with truth, feminism, class and identity in an accessible narrative. Well worth a read.
WWI, the flu, and the suffrage movement all in one. While being a short book, I learnt so much and can’t even fathom the strong amazing women who fought so hard to give us what we have now.
A wonderful book about a part of history that's often overlooked - the Suffragette movement in Ireland, and how it was affected by all the other factors in play at the time; from the end of WWI to the rumblings of the War of Independence to come. What stands out especially though is the long-forgotten effect the pandemic known as the 'Spanish Flu' had; some estimates say a third of the world's population was infected by it, and that up to 6% of the global population died from it. Ireland and Britain were hit as much as anywhere, and the terror and devastation it brought is vividly portrayed in Star by Star. An engaging book about a fascinating time - with a brilliant, sparky protagonist in Stella!
Really excellently written WW1 fiction, read in a day. Recently orphaned after the traumatic experience of witnessing her suffragist mother die of Spanish flu, sixteen year old Stella returns to her family's village in northern Ireland to stay at her aunt Nancy's guesthouse, Cliffside. There she gets to know the guests: Sandy Reid, a shell-shocked army captain, Kit, a VAD nurse in the convalescent home down the road, the warm hearted Miss McKay.
I found Stella's personality troubling though that didn't stop me hoovering this up. She promises to do housework for Nancy after the maid leaves due to family illness, but then abandons this and leaves Nancy in the lurch to pursue her other project: helping her late mother's friend, Rose Sullivan, who lives nearby in relative poverty. But this help has strings attached: Rose and her husband are Catholics and when he objects to Stella's donation of that day's Belfast Telegraph, she gives him a petulant tongue lashing which seems out of place given her charity was unrequested in the first place. She steals Kit's bike repeatedly, after being asked after the first time to stop, and seriously damages it the second time. She teases the annoying Mrs Phillips in front of Nancy, in Mrs Phillips's room, even though Nancy begs her not to, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Nancy depends on Mrs Phillips for some of her income. Her intrusions on Sandy's privacy, are actually quite unpleasant to read sometimes. At best, she has no concept of other people's boundaries; at worst she doesn't really care. I was shouting at the page a few times, especially when on hearing of a relative's illness late on in the novel when her response is completely crass.
That said, Stella is very young and dealing with a horrible bereavement and resultant trauma, so this can be understood through that lens. Also at the 85 per cent mark, somewhat of a turnabout takes place as Stella confronts her own unresolved demons. The country, culture and background are beautifully done. And the long-running consequences of war on the home front are never clearer. Superior YA and a vivid read.
This book was difficult to rate. Wilkinson creates a world which you want to know and she creates characters which are super likeable. However, she tackles quite intense topics but just with broad strokes. The book almost feels like it's about these lovely people and somehow everything else is just shoehorned in. I get that the period of time where its set had all this stuff going on but the story doesn't represent it as fluid. Each dinner conversation just seems to be tackling a serious issue and then the next chapters are about gardening and getting to know people.
Ultimately, the forced nature of some of the topics is what made me give this book a lower score. The writing was great and the cast even more so! But the political elements such as Ireland separating and feminism felt forced at times. The conversations about the flu and the war were a bit better incorporated as they were passing events.
Yet, despite being frustrated with it at times it's a book I've not stopped thinking about. I loved the seaside setting, the mad car driving, Nancy, Sandy and of course Stella. I keep wondering what they did next and what happened with Stella and her feminism fight. Somewhere in my angst about the issues, I started to care about them through the cast and I was slightly sad when it ended. It just seemed to end in the middle of everything and you don't have any closure. It's a bit odd and annoying as you don't know how each story ends, but then again, with stories like this, there can't be an end as its just a segment from their lives. But if Wilkinson picked up Stella again I'd be curious to see where she sent with it.
I did somewhat enjoy this book, it was a very easy read and clearly aimed at a younger audience than myself - but somewhat enjoyable nevertheless. My Irish History is also pretty bare so picked up some nice bits of information on the way too. The PTSD described was incredibly simplified but that might have just been to me.
The book isn’t very challenging in any way despite dealing with complex topics regularly. However this does make sense for the main character, she is 16 and her opinions are the regurgitated opinions of those who were important to her growing up. She has very strong opinions on things she doesn’t fully understand - which is what I think the book does best. It really does capture the essence of the rebellious phase you can go through as a young person where you challenge everything and everyone because there seems to be a clear right way.
It was a decent read, it was easy but gave my little bits of information well and built characters nicely. The pace could be a bit off and the main character doesn’t really show much growth. A 2.5-3 star read, would recommend for a 13-16 year old
Stella lost her mother to the great flu ranging on throughout England and Ireland both, during the first world war. Setting off for where her mother used to know in Ireland and being expected there were she meets Sandy and an array of older women whom love together in a sort of lodging house together.
Sandy is an soldier of war and Stella helps him to re focus his life as he helps her garden and later helps a local couple too. As women start to be able to vote and the war ends, tragedy stills strikes....
This is a heartbreaking story about coping with illness and war and I could imagine all the grief and joy they feel over the events that happen during the book. Something that tickles me about the book is a coincidence that main character Stella Graham is actually a name comprising of both my parents first names! A coincidence which have us all a laugh but at the same time very wartime esque appropriate!
Set in Ireland in 1918, this novel packs a lot of history into just 180 pages - the end of WW1, women voting for the first time, the flu pandemic and the fight for Irish independence. It tells the story of fifteen-year-old Stella, who goes to live with her aunt in Ireland after her mother dies of the flu. Stella is full of passion to change the world for the better, starting with women's suffrage, but struggles to find an outlet for her energy and ambitions in the quiet village of Cuanbeg and with the flu pandemic raging throughout Ireland. She helps out in her aunt's boarding house and on a local farm, making a difference in ways she hadn't initially expected.
This is a really engaging book - I read it in a day. I liked the characterisation and the way Stella's energy and 'modern' ideas cause waves in the small community of Cuanbeg. The friendship between Stella and the wounded WW1 veteran is sensitively portrayed. And it opened my eyes to the terrible impact of the 1918-19 flu pandemic.
I couldn't put this book down. YA Fiction based on truth. Its 1918, the war has not ended yet. Stella is 15 and has lived in Manchester with her mother all of her life. Spanish Flu is killing more people over the world than the war is and Stella's mother was one of them to die. She travels to Ireland to live with her only living relative, her aunt, who she has never met. Ireland is very different to the busy, forward thinking Manchester Stella is use to. Her mother, an active suffragette had brought up a strong, independent thinking young lady, behaviour not expected or tolerated of girls in Ireland. This short but concise story has lively, lovable quirky characters, each with their own thoughts on the war, women's right to vote and Irish Independence as well as dealing with the harsh realities of living through a war.
I found this book difficult to rate. On the one hand, it’s a story about a young girl set in my neck of the woods - something I’ve rarely seen. On the other, it’s very clear that this book wasn’t meant for me, but instead someone much, much younger. A lot of things were glossed over or just touched on briefly, as if the author knew it might be too complicated for her targeted reader.
I also found Stella quite insufferable. Everything she did or planned to do was all about how SHE would feel about it, and she doesn’t dwell when she’s wrong.
15 she might be, but it’s very obvious she was main character in her own world and everyone was there to further her story and didn’t have lives of their own. I kept waiting for her to figure it out, but alas, that feeling was only solidified by the end.
Overall, I’m glad I read it, but it was disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
In 1918 Ireland, orphan Stella travels from England to live with her aunt, following her mother’s death from the flu pandemic sweeping the world. There are three things on her mind: the Great War; flu; and women’s suffrage, as women over 30 who are householders or married to householders have just been given the vote. Arriving in Ireland, another thing is added - Irish independence.
This is a great book about politics and suffrage, set against the background of the Spanish flu pandemic. I knew little about Ireland’s fight for independence but this book explains it through the views of several characters in a way that is easy to understand. A good story which I read in one sitting.
I loved Sheena Wilkinson's 'Name Upon Name', so I was delighted to hear she was writing more historical fiction. Set in 1918 and dealing with WWI, the flu pandemic and suffrage, this is a very interesting read. Stella is a plucky and likeable heroine, and this is an empowering read about wanting to make a change in the world. Highly recommended to fans of 'Name Upon Name' and 'The Making of Mollie' by Anna Carey, and any reader looking for an enjoyable and engaging feminist read. For readers aged 10+
Flu, war and the vote. A few weeks in Ireland 1918
Beautifully written, Star by Star chronicles huge changes in the life of a suffragette's daughter. As the Great War crawls towards its end, Stella, an outsider, bereaved and politically aware, arrives in an Irish community. Spanish flu, and the fear of it, permeates the area. A vivid picture of politics and prejudice, a harrowing twist to the plot, and a message of hope. I was left wanting to find out more about the subjects covered, especially the effects of the flu pandemic on communities already shattered by the war.
Set just at the very end of the First World War, this story highlights other events which were also afflicting the world at the time - the flu pandemic, the struggle for an independent Ireland and universal suffrage. It is told through the eyes of Stella, who sees the world much more in black and white than the shades of grey lived by the more mature people around her, but who blazes through in an effort to put things right for the people around her. She could have been irritating but has a brutally honest charm which ultimately shines through.
Wonderful historical novel. The Great War is winding down, but the Spanish influenza is spreading. When fifteen-year-old Stella's mother dies of it in Manchester, Stella makes her way to Ireland to stay with her aunt Nancy, who she has never met. Stella wants something to do, to help, to make the world better. Like when she helped her mother, and her mother's friend, Rose, march for suffrage. But it seems like not every wants her help, so what is she to do? Something of a coming-of-age novel. Highly recommended.
I’m not too sure how I feel about this book. I did enjoy it at the start but then it got a bit much for me. Stella started doing things that were simply not nice and as soon as someone just disagreed with her opinion she just went mad and said they were weak or unfair. She tried to control everyone’s lives and got mad when someone else tried to speak their opinion. And quite frankly Stella did nothing to help the story at all.
Other than not liking Stella I did quite enjoy this book. I liked the setting and a couple of the characters. Quite a good book just annoying at times
I got through this one fairly quickly, and while it's the sort of topic I'm interested in, women's rights, suffragists and such, this book didn't thrill me. I found that not an awful lot happened, the characters seemed distant and not particularly developed. It's a shame because I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I guess historical fiction just isn't for me, especially when there's so little going on in the story.
I liked how the characters were presented and how the perspective could allow you to fully understand Stella's strong feelings towards politics. I like reading about suffragettes/suffragists and I love reading about the character's thoughts on different topics throughout the book. Although, I did find it a bit samey to other books I've read and therefore took a while to read it. 3/5
Overall this is a solid middle grade book about an Ireland that is in the throes of the 1918/19 flu pandemic, the end of WWI and an increase in support for independence from Britain. While I didn't connect well with Stella as a main character unfortunately, I really appreciated the book's exploration of themes like PTSD and feminism.
tried connecting with the whole suffragettes empowering motto but it was so mundane and at an early point it just turned into the mc's rant, overthinking, not knowing what to do, being lost, like i would have answers to anything. thank you bob and your carrot garden for reviving the never finished story
Is it bad that I want to know more about Stella's old friends, her parents, and the Stella-Sandy dynamic?
Loved the background and the story altogether! I get how this book had to end this way, but boy, were the characters and their relationships so interesting that there are definitely more that could be said!
One of my first historical fiction reads and I loved it!
What I loved: - Quirky, lively and lovable characters - A realistic portrayal of PTSD - A compelling story, which has sparked a lot of personal interest in the movement for me.
I like this, but it felt short. Not just that it's not many pages, but it felt... incomplete, like it was only part of a bigger story. I understand why it was limited to what it was, but nonetheless, I wished it could have been more, or bigger, or something. It didn't feel quite fully fleshed out.
Skvelá knižka zasadená do skutočných historických udalostí, ktorá mi pripomenula, aké sú ženy silné a je úplne jedno či im je 15 či 45... krásny príbeh o priateľstve, rodine, tvrdohlavosti a prekonávaní prekážok. Určite si ju ešte niekedy znova prečítam. ♥
A nice middle grade(ish) book about the end of the First World War, women's suffrage and the flu epidemic in northern Ireland. I enjoyed reading it and thought it was an interesting and different perspective.
Wonderful book, so easy to enjoy, such descriptive and well written characters. I would highly recommend reading if you like history. Has a good balance of made up characters and story and historical setting and facts in the form of the war and the Spanish flu.
good book! read it quite a while ago (a year or so) so don't remember it fully, but I know it was good some parts i found quite confusing and was hard to follow at points, but the writing method and overall plot was very good, showed lots of different perspectives on womens suffrage.