Oh My Stars!

by Lorna Landvik, 389 pages

Since this was our book discussion title, I listened to it on audio. It has been several years since I had read anything of Landvik's, but this was an interesting read. The setting is something of a departure for her, since it is mainly set in the South and Midwest of the 30s. 

It's a coming of age story of a young woman named Violet Mathers. She has been abandoned by her mother, beaten by her father, ridiculed by her classmates and maimed by a machine at her job at a thread factory. This last event pushes her over the edge, and she decides to take the bus to San Francisco. When she gets there, she intends to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. Fate has something else in mind for her. The bus crashes on a rain soaked night in the middle of North Dakota, and Violet meets two young musicians who will change her life.

The story of Violet, Kjel and August follows a wandering path of successes and hardships, racism and tolerance, laughter and tears. So it does read like a Lorna Landvik book. I enjoyed meeting the characters and sharing their journey, for they are people worth knowing.

Cate K