Light from a Distant Star

Light from a Distant Star is a first-person coming-of-age story in the voice of 13-year-old Nellie, an inquisitive, talkative people-pleasing middle child who feels responsible for her struggling family and for their reputation in their gossipy small town when a scandalous murder is committed close to home, but also feels a responsibility to defend the man the rest of the town believes is guilty.
The novel does better with family dynamics than with developing a suspenseful storyline, but succeeds in creating a memorable character in Nellie.

Light from a Distant Star

by: Mary McGarry Morris

5 Stars


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780307451880
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Publication date: 7/17/2012
Pages: 336
Sales rank: 401,440
Product dimensions: 5.30 (w) x 7.86 (h) x 0.73 (d)

Summary: Nellie is in charge of taking care of her younger brother Henry for the summer. The adults are just too busy. Her mother is working as much as she can at the salon, and when she is home, she is always complaining about the lack of money that they have. Her father owns the family hardware store, but really spends all of his time working on a history of the city. In order to help with finances, the apartment in the basement is rented out to a young erotic dancer. This sets Nellie off on an show more adventure that has several ups and downs. To begin with, Nellie is fascinated with this dancer. She loves to eaves drop on her by listening in through the walls. Dolly, the dancer, then becomes a little more part of the family as she talks to Nellie’s older sister and mother. In the meantime, Max has started working with Nellie’s grandfather. Max is another fascination for Nellie. She likes talking to him. He seems to be the only adult that treats her as more than just a little kid. The problem is, she can tell that Max is interested in Dolly, but several men seem to be interested in her. She’s also seen Mr. Cooper, a local businessman, hanging around Dolly. She’s overheard conversations with Dolly on the phone with a man she seems to be dating. It’s all rather unclear. Then, something horrible happens! There is a murder and Nellie may be the only one that knows what really happened. This spirals Nellie into a moral dilemma. She tells one person the truth to what she believes it to be, but is told that she may be wrong. Nellie has to deal with the trial and attempting to figure out what is right and what is wrong. Who knows if she may be ruining one persons life to save someone who could be guilty.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. The murder doesn’t happen until about half way through the book, but I could have done without that and the aftermath. I loved just following Nellie around as she lived her daily life through the summer. Her interactions with all that are around her and her astute observations are fun to be a part of. I love the lazy summer stories that just allow you to delve into the characters. Once the murder happens, things spiral around that and her attempts to hold things in or tell them out. I didn’t enjoy the last half of the novel as much as the first. I felt like I lost some of my connection with Nellie. It is realistic for a little girl to be obsessed with one particular topic. It is also frustrating when people don’t seem to believe her when she shares information. Towards the end of the novel, I felt bad that we have lost the innocent and observant child from the beginning; however, I appreciated Nellie’s character arc and found overall the book to be a great read. show less

This was seriously one of the strangest books I have ever read. I'm trying to get into more literary fiction, and so far I have liked it very much. Some of the stuff I read is borderline, but I think this fit the description of literary fiction very well. It definitely had a distinct style and voice. More on that in a minute. It has been compared in some reviews to To Kill a Mockingbird and I really can't comment on that because that is one classic I have not read yet. I know. But it's on the list and I will get to it at some point.

The story here is tragic. And to be honest, kind of hard to find. It's buried in there well. There isn't much of a story at all for the first 100 or so pages. If you are looking for a quickly paced and show more riveting novel, this isn't it. Yeah, there's a murder. And a trial. But it's certainly not a legal thriller either. I guess you could call it a coming-of-age story, but personally, I don't think that works either. The narrative is meandering and it definitely has elements of a character study. I guess what I am trying to say is that Light from a Distant Star is very much a genre-bending read. It's a literary fiction, coming-of-age, murder mystery, character study novel. Phew! And still that doesn't completely cover it.

Like I said, it takes a while to get to the point. But when it finally does it's worth it. There were a few times when I contemplated putting it down because it really wasn't doing anything for me. But then I was like, "Oh, what the heck, I'll read a couple of more pages." And then from there it turned into 20 more pages, and then 50, and before I knew it, I was really into the story and didn't want to put it down. And I didn't. I stayed up until dawn reading this, and I'm still not sure whether I liked it or not. I think I did, but it was so different from anything I have ever read before, that it's very hard for me to rate, summarize and review. It's style was a bit strange too. It felt like it was written in a different time, almost historical, but it wasn't. It's contemporary. Weird. Very weird. And that's what I mean about distinctive style. It was very much like a game of 'Chutes and Ladders.' Very up and down and all over the place, but in a good way.

I'd definitely recommend it to fans of literary fiction. Maybe Jodi Picoult fans and fans of that type of fiction. But keep in mind the distinctive style and that there is a plot, it is just more of a character study than plot-driven. And that's just my personal opinion. And the characters aren't very likeable. Well, most of them anyway. You'll see what I mean. If you think this was a strange review, wait until you pick up the book. It gets weirder. show less

2.0 out of 5 stars I am sad - but happy for those who liked it!, November 21, 2011
By Frank Drury "Author of An Empty Sky" (Highlands Ranch, Colorado)

This review is from Amazon.com Light from a Distant Star: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have read all of her work. Most of it twice. I sent her my first novel to read, which had been well received by reviewers, and I told her what an inspiration/influence she had been for me. She ignored me - but that was okay; I assumed she was busy creating another masterpiece. But now this book? I don't understand at all. It is not a "To Kill A Mocking Bird" as some have suggested. It was truly a struggle to finish it and I never would have finished it if I did not admire her as much as I do. It saddens me show more that this book is so weak. I am sure she will recover. All of her other books are so amazing and her characters and stories are always so artfully unforgettable! show less

Nellie Peck is a young girl determined to do the right thing in spite of many obstacles. The book is reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird, complete with several quirky characters and moral dilemmas. I liked it-thought it was a little long but definitely worth reading.

Written from a twelve year old girl's perspective, it contained too much profanity (maybe I'm out of touch with the gutter talk of junior high?).

I was bogged down in the repetitious musings and no progress in character development.