In Amanda Dykes’ novel, Set the Stars Alight, Lucy Claremont is the daughter of an English watchmaker whose family invites a young “lost boy” into their circle. Dash grew up in America until both parents died. He lived with a distant aunt who wasn’t home much and seemed not very interested in him.
Lucy’s father loved to tell stories and riddles to the children. Many of his stories centered on a legend about a man who lived 200 years before, Frederick Handford. Handford was a seaman who, accused of treason, stole a boat called the Jubilee and was never heard from again. Many had searched for any sign of Handford or the Jubilee, to no avail. Many stories had been told about what might have happened.
Lucy grew up with a love for the ocean and a desire to research and find the Jubilee. Dash grew up loving the stars, after hearing about them from Lucy’s father and using his homemade telescope. Their interests and circumstances seemed to take them in opposite directions until their paths crossed again while researching the Jubilee.
The story shifts back and forth from 2020 to the 1800s and what really happened with Frederick Handford. He was the son of a respected admiral who, since his own glory days, fell to drink. Frederick grew up with his father on one end of the house, drinking and raging, and his mother at the other end, playing parts of Handel’s Messiah. When his mother died, he ran away to escape his father’s rage and neglect. He was taken in by a kind local shepherd, but inadvertently brought tragedy to the man and his family. Frederick spent the rest of his life trying to make it up to them, especially the man’s daughter, Juliette.
Amanda writes in her author’s notes that this story felt like a set of nesting dolls, with many layers and stories within stories. That’s an apt description.
Amanda’s stories have a way of deeply touching hearts. Her characters are real and flawed, yet their stories are redemptive.
One of my favorite quotes comes from the book comes from a poem titled “The Old Astronomer to His Pupil” by Sarah Williams:
Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
A few more quotes that stood out to me:
He is coming, and coming, and coming, and coming after you. In every sunset, in every snatch of birdsong In everything that stirs deep into you and makes you hungry for bigger things, eternal things. That is Him, pursuing you with tenderest grace. In the places so hard they wring your soul. In the places so beautiful they steal your breath. He is there, filling your soul, giving you breath.
Made-up tales that stand through time . . . they are echoes . . . of truth.
I think it’s our duty to keep the stories, to pass them on. It is our duty—and our honor. In a world as dark as ours, we—that is, people—forget how to see the light. So we remind them by telling the truth, fighting the dark, paying attention . . . setting the stars alight. There are things shining brightly all along, if we will notice.
Such freedom, to know our limits. And to know the God who has none.
God had a way of redeeming wounds with the strength of others.
Surprise gave way to curiosity, And curiosity–as it was meant to from the time God breathed life into the great wide world–made way for wonder.”
I listened to the audiobook, which was mostly good except the narrator’s diction wasn’t clear in places. I checked out the e-book from Libby to get the author’s notes and look up some passages.
I thought the modern-day part of the book moved a little slowly at times. But overall, this was a lovely, touching story.
(Sharing with Bookish Bliss Quarterly Link-Up)
Stray Thoughts 