The Stargazers is one of those family sagas spanning the generations where dark events of the past threaten to derail the younger generation’s future. At the centre of this story is Fane Hall, the grand family mansion that was once a glittering venue for parties and weekend guests.
But since the loss of Iris’s father in the Somme, the new Lord Ashley, Iris’s Uncle Clive, will be taking over Fane Hall and she and her mother will be forced to leave. Iris can never forget her belief that Fane belongs to her – if she had been a boy there would be no doubt – and for decades to follow, it is Iris’s searing ambition, to reclaim Fane.
The story flips forward to 1969 and we meet a young couple – Sarah a gifted cellist and her writer husband Daniel – who are delighted to have bought a house in The Row in London’s Hampstead. The house needs a lot of work which is why it’s so cheap, but the two are very much in love and soon settle in and make friends with the neighbours. Among them the beautiful Lara, who had lived in the house from childhood when it was bubbling with family life. Though she becomes friendly with Sarah she finds entering the house disturbing. There’s talk of her tragic family – the loss of a brother and her beloved parents.
Sarah’s own upbringing was the opposite. Iris was a cruel and remote parent and the story flips back to reveal a childhood of deprivation and abuse. She and her sister, Vic, now rarely speak, have fallen out years ago, but at one point Vic was Sarah’s saviour and the sisters were everything to each other. We go back to their time at school, to Sarah’s flowering talent as a cellist, to their time at Fane and meeting Uncle Clive, who is crumbling just as much as the house is.
Iris watches them all turn slowly towards her. What a disappointment she is, for if she had been born male, everything would have been all right. She would have saved the family, saved Fane Hall from Uncle Clive. This is not how it should have been. Because it is her house.
There are all these threads to untangle, questions to answer. Who is the mysterious Bird Boy, and what caused the rift between the sisters? What happened to the house at Fane and what is Iris’s hand in it all? But the story also captures the difficulties of being a parent – Sarah struggles with her moody, headstrong daughter and with being Daniel’s wife. And how do you raise a child with love, when your own childhood was so deprived? Daniel is charming and popular, bringing people into the house for all-day Sunday lunch, while Sarah would dearly love some peace and quiet, to be herself. Will she ever play the cello again?
The story slowly fills in the blanks, but builds in plenty of suspense as well. There’s danger, but there are surprises too making for a very engaging story. I thought the plot was great, the characters interesting, but the writing was a little sloppy at times, as if it needed a bit more crafting or an editorial eye. Even so, I was happy to while away a few hours immersed in Sarah’s story. I have a read a few novels by Harriet Evans and will no doubt pick her up again for a relaxing read. The Stargazers gets three and a half stars from me.
Judith McKinnon 