Wandering Stars is the poignant follow-up novel to Tommy Orange’s There There.
Synopsis
This generational novel follows two timelines: what happened after the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the aftermath of a shooting at a powwow in 2018.
Review of Wandering Stars
There are lots of discussions on religion and trauma, including generational trauma. It examines how Richard Henry Pratt tried to “kill the Indian, save the man” when he founded the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
I struggled with TT due to the number of POVs and the writing style. It had a lot of characters and not that many pages to get acquainted with all of them. However, this book has slightly fewer POVs, which allows a closer understanding of each one.
I can appreciate the stunning quality of Tommy Orange’s writing style, but personally, I struggle with texts that are heavily introspective and which feature minimal dialogue. The contemporary timeline has slightly more dialogue than the historical sections. Still, I think this will be a five-star read for many people.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
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Thank you to McClelland & Stewart for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
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