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A Star in the Face of the Sky

A Star in the Face of the Sky is embroiled in race and inter-generational issues among Estelle, a Jewish grandmother, and Janet, a black grandmother, friends who both have custodial care of their grandsons, as well as the gay relationship between the two smart but angry and moody teenage grandsons. Adding to the intrigue is a murder — Jonestown style. Janet's daughter kills three of her four children, leaving the fourth to live with Janet. A Star in the Face of the Sky will be of interest to the first and second generations following the Holocaust and slavery, in a contemporary setting of alternative lifestyles and dealing with a parent in prison.

"A compelling, breakthrough work that explores what happens when ordinary lives meet extraordinary circumstances. A Star in the Face of the Sky is master craftsman David Haynes at his boldest and most imaginative." — Rosaly Story, More Than You Know and Wading Home.

Two boys fit nowhere except with each other. They are loved by their grandmothers, more fiercely, more unconditionally than even God could love these boys with their 'exclusionary, jealous, and sophomoric love.' The grandmothers, in turn, love each other and each other's grandson. This constellation, four people leaning on each other, toward each other, is necessary because they are all survivors of monstrous family history. When someone you love hurts, what do you do? Characters respond with solutions outlandish, meddling, maudlin, but well-intentioned. This sad yet funny novel about tragedy — not why it happens, but how we persevere — is a love story squared." — Debra Monroe, The Source of Trouble, Newfangled, Shambles, and On the Outskirts of Normal

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 345
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9780898232837
  • Release date
  • 2013