STARCROSSED

by Rosalind Ashe

Cassandra and Thomas are perfect together. Cassandra - blond, daring, gliding effortlessly through life. Thomas - dark, poetic, dashingly handsome. Without words they know each other's most intimate thoughts. Together they are two hearts beating as one - sharing, caring, desiring. But they are damned from the moment they meet.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Thomas Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

As mentioned in my review of MOTHS, Rosalind Ashe was the pen name of my late grandmother. This is the second of her books I've read, and it's a lot to process. It's a beautifully-written, emotionally complex exploration of young love, the kind of carefree university romance that blossoms quickly and with all kinds of soppy clichés. But also it's a grim tragedy, as the reader watches proceedings waiting for the other shoe to finally drop. The twist is well-telegraphed from the beginning, so there isn't much shock to be had, but the awful inevitability of the Reveal creeps into the background of every scene, from the happiest moments to the darkest.

It's unfortunate that one major plot point is the couple's child being born with Downs Syndrome - the language used for it in the book is outdated, and the attitudes woefully prejudiced. This was published in 1979, and set in the early 60s, so that does come with the territory unfortunately. And the story hinges around parentage, lineage and the like, so I can see it turning a lot of modern readers off. But for what it is, I enjoyed a lot of it - the characters are well fleshed out, especially the female lead, and the pair have realistic chemistry and naïveté.