The Giver of Stars Synopsis
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
"A great narrative about personal strength and really captures how books bring communities together." -Reese Witherspoon
From the author of the forthcoming Someone Else's Shoes, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond in Depression-era America
Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve, hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt's new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.
The leader, and soon Alice's greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who's never asked a man's permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.
What happens to them--and to the men they love--becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity, and passion. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. And though they face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they're committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.
Based on a true story rooted in America's past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope and epic in its storytelling. Funny, heartbreaking, enthralling, it is destined to become a modern classic--a richly rewarding novel of women's friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond.
About This Edition
Jojo Moyes Press Reviews
'Her best book yet' Grazia
'Perfect for long autumn nights' Stylist
'Delightful. The most appealing thing is Moyes' wonderful way with romance' The Times
'Extraordinary. The best thing she has written since Me Before You' METRO
'An entertaining, immersive and moving read' THE SUNDAY TIMES
'Intensely moving and crammed with romance and emotion' SUN
'Packed full of romance, tension and brilliantly drawn characters' SUNDAY POST
'A beautiful, special novel. I loved it and didn't want it to end!' LIANE MORIARTY, author of Big Little Lies
'Moyes' best yet' SUNDAY POST
'My favourite of 2019' 5***** READER REVIEW
'Epic' DAVID NICHOLLS, bestselling author of One Day
'I laughed and I cried. Could not put it down' 5***** READER REVIEW
'The most sweeping, dramatic, richly evocative book, full of brilliantly feisty women' SOPHIE KINSELLA, bestselling author of The Confessions of a Shopaholic.
About Jojo Moyes
Jojo Moyes was our Guest Editor in March 2014 - click here - to see the books that inspired her writing.
Jojo Moyes is a novelist and a journalist. She worked at the Independent for ten years before leaving to write full time. Her previous novels have all been critically acclaimed and include Me Before You, The Girl You Left Behind, The Ship of Brides, Foreign Fruit, and The Last Letter from Your Lover. She lives in Essex with her husband and their three children.
Me Before You was 2012’s greatest love story – it was Spring 2012’s most popular Richard & Judy pick that went on to be nominated for book of the year at the Galaxy Book Awards. Excitingly, it has since been optioned by MGM and Jojo has been writing the script this summer.
Jojo has spent much of 2013 touring the US and this summer Me Before You went straight in on The New York Times bestseller Top Ten chart. In the UK, appearances this year so far include World Book Night, Hay Literary Festival, The Bookseller Industry Awards and the Orange Women’s Prize.
Her latest novel The One Plus One is in the same vein of Me Before You – an unconventional love story with a dilemma at its heart. It has a cast of wonderful characters and show that family comes in all forms and that through hard work and optimism, your happy ending might come true after all.
Author photo © Stine Heilmann
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