📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ In Little Stars by Linda Green

Quercus
6 September 2022 (ebook and audio)

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Two families divided by hate. A love that will not die.

Sylvie and Donna travel on the same train to work each day but have never spoken. Their families are on different sides of the bitter Brexit divide, although the tensions and arguments at home give them much in common.

What they don't know is that their eldest children, Rachid and Jodie, are about to meet for the first time and fall in love. Aware that neither family will approve, the teenagers vow to keep their romance a secret.

But as Sylvie's family feel increasingly unwelcome in England, a desire for a better life threatens Rachid and Jodie's relationship. Can their love unite their families - or will it end in tragedy?

📖 My Review..

Rachid and Jodie are about to meet for the first time when they are both travelling to Leeds on the same train. Their lives are about to implode as the attraction between them is instant and real. However, regardless of how powerful the attraction, the impact that their relationship will have on their individual families will have far reaching consequences.

In a fractured North of England, reeling from years of political neglect, there is an undercurrent of discontent. Brexit has split families apart but there is also strong racial tension which rears its ugly head and which becomes such a strong theme throughout the story. In Little Stars brings these divisions in our once united nation into sharp focus and there is much to ponder over with characters and situations which feel scarily authentic, and which are so realistically portrayed that the sense of unease and creeping disquiet, from both sides of the divide, makes for uncomfortable reading. 

There is very quickly an emotional connection made with Rachid and Jodie, both are lovely young people who just want to make their way in the world and whose shared hopes, dreams and love for the music of Prince really resonate, but as is the way with star crossed lovers, life has a nasty habit of biting back and, without revealing any spoilers, Linda Green doesn't pull her punches when it comes to what happens next.

I was both visibly shaken and emotionally drained by the conclusion of In Little Stars. Without doubt  this powerful family drama will stay with me for a long time to come.

🍷Best Read with..a mug of tea and a Bakewell slice

About the Author

Linda Green is the bestselling author of eleven novels. She is an award-winning journalist and has written for The Guardian, the Independent on Sunday and the Big Issue. Linda lives in West Yorkshire. 

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Twitter @LindaGreenisms #OneMoment

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