This review is written with thanks to the publisher for my copy of River Of Stars via Netgalley.

Blurb:

Jo hasn’t seen Oliver since that magical, life-changing summer when their idyllic island paradise was shattered. Growing up on Walnut Tree Island, they were everything to each other, defying a feud that fractured their families decades before. If first love runs deep, Jo and Oliver’s ran like the river itself, fast and true.

On Walnut Tree Island, love affairs and secrets come and go like the tides. Once the pulse of a flourishing 1960s music scene, it’s where Mary Star fell in love with a young musician about to hit the big time, only to be left with a baby and a broken heart. Mary has made the island a haven for two generations of Star women, raising her daughter and her granddaughter, surrounded by the river, supported by a bohemian, artistic community.

But Oliver’s return to the island after years away throws everyone into a frenzy. The threat of change is coming to paradise. And for Jo, Oliver’s return opens the wounds of a love she thought she had lost for ever…

Beautifully written, featuring a cast of magnetic characters, River of Stars is the captivating new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Georgina Moore.

Review:

I loved Georgina Moore’s debut, The Garnett Girls, so I was eager to see how she would follow it up. River Of Stars is a character driven novel, and I loved the depth with which the characters were developed and how easily I was able to get to know them. It’s clear from the beginning that many of the characters are still coming to terms with issues from their pasts, and Georgina Moore really captures the emotions involved in this. It’s subtle and it happens gradually, but by the last part of the novel, I found that the emotions of the difficult situations encountered by the characters really impacted me.

The narrative alternates between the past and present, and this is a really effective technique, as it helped me to understand what had happened before and led the characters to act in the way they did. I enjoyed meeting the characters who had passed away in the present day.

River Of Stars is set on Walnut Tree Island, a fictional island based on Eel Pie Island in the River Thames. I was unaware of this island prior to reading this novel, but I love how Georgina Moore has portrayed Island life and the community living on it. I was immersed straight away in this setting and really enjoyed learning about it.

The characters in River Of Stars will stay with me for a long time to come.

River Of Stars is available from Amazon.