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There are currently 25 member reviews
for Under the Wide and Starry Sky
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Linda A. (Palo Alto, CA)
Fascinating Narrative
This book captured my interest from the beginning as we journey through the lives of Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson and Robert Louis Stevenson. Horan portrays her characters as flesh and blood, real-life people who brave the unknown in search of a home where Louis can survive and thrive. Fanny endures many hardships as they travel the world, more than once nursing him back from the brink of death and finds herself submerging her creative side to focus on the practical work to be done. This is a work of fiction, strongly anchored in history. Portrayed in depth, the characters come to life as people for whom we care.
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Mary Ellen L. (Canfield, OH)
Under the Wide and Starry Sky
Fans of Nancy Horan's "Loving Frank" will not be disappointed with her second novel. She manages to bring to life the equally fascinating characters of Louis and Fanny and their loving, but turbulent, relationship as they travel the world. Historical facts are expanded upon, bringing insight into the life of a famous author and his strong and remarkable wife. It is an ambitious work, which sometimes seemed a little more detailed than necessary, but well worth the read.
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Teresa M. (Naples, FL)
Under the wide and starry sky
I was a huge fan of the author's first book, Loving Frank. Is this book as good? No,and here is the reason why: the lives of Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife Fanny, although interesting were certainly not as dramatic as the lives of Frank Lloyd Wright and his partner, Mamah Cheney, the subjects of Horan's previous novel. How could the author ever top the ending of that book?
That being said, I thought her latest offering was a good read. I thought the author did a good job of illuminating the lives of another famous artist and the woman behind him, his long, suffering wife.
Fanny, a very strong woman with her own mental health problems, continuously sacrificed her health to care for Stevenson, who had very daunting and chronic physical health issues. Together they weaved together an unconventional life in the arts, full of adventure and global travel and were able to sustain a deep connection and passion for each other.
I love the author's writing and storytelling abilities, and look forward to her next novel.
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Florence K. (Encino, CA)
Under the Wide and Starry Sky
Such an odd couple! The unlikely romance and marriage of frail Louis (RLS) and feisty Fanny make for a read that could have been faster-paced. The travels and travails of the couple are well written and well-researched. I was much more interested in how the writings of Stevenson came to be than in the many conversations he had with his friends and the many accounts of his frequent illnesses. Fanny sublimated her talents to that of her husband and I admired her no-nonsense attitude. I liked the book; I didn't love it, and I don't think I'll suggest it to my book club.
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Rosemary K. (Saginaw, MI)
a bit too wide/not enough stars
Nancy Horan's Under the Wide and Starry Sky reveals the enthralling story of Robert Louis Stevenson's life with Fanny van de Grift Osbourne.
Those who are aware of Stevenson's masterpiece works, such as Treasure Island, have probably imagined the author--if they thought about him at all--as being a strong, rugged individual capable of participating in his own action tales. But the opposite was true. Stevenson was an invalid prone to attacks that threatened to shorten his life. Living in the tropics seemed to ease his pain, and so he and Fanny spent years in the South Seas.
Horan describes the slow process by which the two became involved. Fanny had left her unfaithful husband in order to study art in Belgium, bringing along her three children and their nanny. She met Stevenson, and after some time, their affair began.
This historical novel is full of detail--at times, it's too much. I would be getting into the story, but then there would be endless pages of seeming repetition. But then my interest would return, until I again grew frustrated with the vast amount of endless descriptions that didn't move the story along. Some sections of the book could have been improved by sharper editing.
And yet, when I consider the book as a whole, I basically enjoyed it. But had about 50 pages been cut, the book would have been a stronger piece of writing.
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Elinor S. (Naples, FL)
Under the Wide and Starry Sky
I loved "loving Frank" and must admit after reading this I was disappointed. I felt it dragged. I liked Fanny's grit and it was a nice love story in the beginning, but after the first half of the book I truly wanted to finish so I could read a new book. Maybe if it had more about his actual works it would have been more exciting to me.
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Jan C. (San Antonio, TX)
Under the wide and starry sky
Having read Nancy Horan's Loving Frank, I expected to enjoy this book as much. I did not. I did not feel like I knew the characters in book. Their character development was a thin veneer. Perhaps this was because so much was written about where they were but I did not feel tied to events of the world with these characters. I had trouble placing them in the world around them. There was too little about the actual work of RLS and too much repeated about his illness. I finished the book feeling I knew little about RLS works' impact on the society of the day. I felt the author was limited to the diaries of Fanny.
I didn't feel like I had learned anything of importance when I finished the book.
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