Under the Stasrs by Beatriz Williams
Book Blurb:
Audrey Fisher has struggled all her life to emerge from the shadow of her famous mother by forging a career as a world-class chef. Meredith Fisher’s glamorous screen persona disguises the trauma of the tragic accident that haunts her dreams. Neither woman wants to return to the New England island they left behind and its complicated emotional ties, but Meredith has one last chance to sober up and salvage her big comeback, and where else but discreet, moneyed Winthrop Island can a famous actress spend the summer without the intrusion of other people? Until Audrey discovers an old wooden chest among the belongings of her estranged bartender father, Mike Kennedy, and the astonishing contents draw the women deep into Winthrop’s past and its many secrets…attracting the interest of their handsome neighbor, Sedge Peabody. How did a trove of paintings from one of America’s greatest artists wind up in the cellar of the Mohegan Inn? And who is the mysterious woman portrayed on every canvas?
On a stormy November night in 1846, Providence Dare flees Boston and boards the luxury steamship Atlantic one step ahead of the law or so she believes. But when a catastrophic accident leaves the ship at the mercy of a mighty gale, Providence finds herself trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the one man who knows her real identity—the detective investigating the suspicious death of her employer, the painter Henry Irving. As the Atlantic fights for her life and the rocky shore of Winthrop Island edges closer, a desperate Providence searches for her chance to escape…before the sea swallows her without a trace.
My Review: 3.75 stars
Under the Stars by Beatriz Williams is a dual timeline novel that I’d consider a welcome mix of historical fiction and women’s fiction. Her books very often take place in the fictional Winthrop Harbor which her super fans adore due to the comfort of getting to know this town so well.
At its heart this is a mother daughter story, where the daughter is summoned to keep watch on her mother as she goes through a much-needed detox. However, it’s also a mystery involving the fictional Providence Dare. The three women we follow in the story are all battling real life “stuff” and we, the readers are privy to their issues.
I liked that this story involves some great side characters, the downing of the steamship Atlantic that many died on but gave Providence a second chance, questions of parentage and the found art that connects the two timelines. The writing was good and the story kept me completely engaged. Happy Reading!
Quotes I liked:
You only get hurt if you love someone in the first place. Grief is the price we pay for love.”
