The stars are not yet bells / Hannah Lillith Assadi.
"A story of secrets, loss, and the betrayals of memory: a lyrical novel of an aging woman confronting her romantic past under the mysterious skies of her island home. Off the coast of Georgia, near Savannah, generations have been tempted by strange blue lights in the sky near an island called Lyra. At the height of WWII, impressionable young Elle Ranier comes to the island when her new husband, Simon, is dispatched by his industrialist father to find the source of the mysterious lights. There they will live for decades, raising a family while employing much of the island's population in a quixotic campaign to find and exploit the elusive minerals rumored to lurk offshore. Fifty years later, as Simon's business is shuttered in disarray, Elle looks back at her life on the mysterious island--and at a secret she herself has guarded for decades. As her memory recedes, her life seems a tangle of questions: How did the business survive so long without ever finding the legendary Lyra stones? How did her own life crumble under treatment for depression? And what became of the other man they brought to the island--handsome, raffish Gabriel, who risked everything to follow the light to its source? With echoes of We Are Not Ourselves and even Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, The Stars Are Not Yet Bells is a darkly romantic story of the tantalizing, faithless relationship between ourselves and the lives and souls we leave behind"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780593084366
- ISBN: 0593084365
- Physical Description: 225 pages ; 22 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : Riverhead Books, 2022.
- Copyright: ©2022
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Reminiscing in old age > Fiction. Married people > Fiction. Families > Fiction. Business enterprises > Fiction. Islands > Fiction. Secrecy > Fiction. Memory > Fiction. |
Genre: | Historical fiction. Novels. |
Available copies
- 17 of 17 copies available at Missouri Evergreen. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at North Kansas City.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 17 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Kansas City Public Library | FICTION ASSADI 2022 (Text) | 0001002399432 | Fiction | Available | - |
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The Stars Are Not yet Bells : A Novel
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Summary
The Stars Are Not yet Bells : A Novel
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER AND NPR Through the scrim of fading memory, an elderly woman confronts a lifetime of secrets and betrayal, under the mysterious skies of her island home Off the coast of Georgia, near Savannah, generations have been tempted by strange blue lights in the sky near an island called Lyra. At the height of WWII, impressionable young Elle Ranier leaves New York City to forge a new life together on the island with her new husband, Simon. There they will live for decades, raising a family while waging a quixotic campaign to find the source of the mysterious blue offshore light--and the elusive minerals rumored to lurk beneath the surface. Fifty years later, Elle looks back at her life on the mysterious island--and at a secret she herself has guarded for decades. As her memory recedes into the mists of Alzheimer's disease, her life seems a tangle of questions: How did her husband's business, now shuttered, survive so long without ever finding the legendary Lyra stones? How did her own life crumble under treatment for depression? And what became of Gabriel--the handsome, raffish other man who came to the island with them and risked everything to follow the lights? Darkly romantic and deeply haunting , The Stars Are Not Yet Bells pulls us into a story of the tantalizing, faithless relationship between ourselves and the lives and souls we leave behind.