Sister Stardust / Jane Green
1,001 Days of Awesome Reads - Day 208
There’s something to be said about a book that takes you back to a time that felt shimmery and out-of-focus even as it was happening, so it’s not surprising that there’s a certain amount of that sensation in reading about it fifty years later.
In her newest release, SISTER STARDUST, Jane Green has chosen to delve into the life of counterculture icon Talitha Getty and the psychedelic haze of her little corner of Marrakesh.
I did not love this book, but I admire Jane Green for taking it on. There was a lot going on, and the mix of historical and fictional characters (including fictional characters based on historical figures?) made it a little hard to keep track of truth and fiction. Not too surprising, though, given that part of the central concept of the book is that the life discovered and forged in Marrakesh by a simple shop girl who almost stumbles upon it, is at once dreamlike and horribly real.
Sex, drugs and rock-and-roll are the beginning, but they lead to a spectacular freedom that is fantastic (in every sense of the word) and horrifying. With no inhibitions, the cast of characters take on the best and worst humanity has to offer, and big and small foibles, jealousies, misunderstandings and resentments lead to some shocking conclusions.
That it is told from the point of view of a small-town girl who is always a little removed from it, yet intimately connected to the major players, makes it more interesting and also more complicated. She is the storyteller, yet more than anyone else in the story, she is the wide-eyed, surprised participant, who on one level doesn’t believe she belongs there and on another can’t believe any of it is really happening, especially with her in the midst.
It was a fascinating storytelling choice for a story that almost feels like a frothy dream itself, but one that to this day, for people in the know, was an iconic snapshot of a world movement in microcosm.
A fascinating, lovely, tragic, odd book about a fascinating, lovely, tragic, odd time. Strangely mesmerizing, rather, I gather, like Talitha herself.
Happy reading! xoxo
SISTER STARDUST
In her first novel inspired by a true story, Jane Green re-imagines the life of troubled icon Talitha Getty in this transporting story from a forgotten chapter of the Swinging '60s
From afar Talitha's life seemed perfect. In her twenties, and already a famous model and actress, she moved from London to a palace in Marrakesh, with her husband Paul Getty, the famous oil heir. There she presided over a swirling ex-pat scene filled with music, art, free love and a counterculture taking root across the world.
When Claire arrives in London from her small town, she never expects to cross paths with a woman as magnetic as Talitha Getty. Yearning for the adventure and independence, she's swept off to Marrakesh, where the two become kindred spirits. But beneath Talitha's glamourous facade lurks a darkness few can understand. As their friendship blossoms and the two grow closer, the realities of Talitha's precarious existence set off a chain of dangerous events that could alter Claire's life forever.
You can see all the books I’ve written about so far in my 1,001 Days of Awesome Reads project, which launched 2/14/22:
booksandfriends.substack.com/archive
About Bobbi Dumas
Hi!
I’m Bobbi and I read, review, blog about and advocate for fiction written by women. I’ve written for NPR, Barnes & Noble and The New York Times Book Review, and wrote over 600 reviews for Kirkus and also penned the weekly Kirkus Romance (and Women’s Fiction) blog for a few years before parting ways with them in 2020. I believe that romance novels are (mostly) by women, for women, about women and of interest to women, and offer more hope, female agency and positive change than any other literary genre.
Women write great books, yet typically get less respect (and less review ink) than men do. While I do occasionally read books by men, I try to spotlight books by women and hold them up for the attention and appreciation they deserve.
I hope you’ll follow this space and find great new books to dive into.
Let’s read! xoxo
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