cakt1991 's review for:

Under the Stars: A Novel by Beatriz Williams

4.0

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 Despite being one of my favorite authors, Beatriz Williams is rather hit-or-miss for me at times. However, Under the Stars falls more in the “hit” category, which is fortunate for me, as the last few things I’ve tried have been rather dull. And while this one felt different from other Williams titles, particularly as the contemporary element was much stronger than the historical than this time around, I ended up enjoying it. 

I love how Williams continues to expand her interconnected fictional world in clever ways; you don’t need to pick up every Easter egg (I’m sure I’ve missed some, even though I’ve read all her books), but the connections continue to catch me by surprise. And with this one in particular, I loved seeing how she’s continued her love affair with Winthrop Island as a picturesque setting (for four books now). 

The mother-daughter relationship between Meredith and Audrey is the central focus of the novel, and I really liked both of them. Their relationship is somewhat dysfunctional, with toxic romantic relationships and bad habits on both their parts, and I loved the dichotomy of seeing the impact of her mother’s shadow on Audrey, as well as seeing what things were like from Audrey’s perspective.  

Providence’s historical storyline was a bit weaker. I did like the historical setting, and how it was set around a real disaster, but her presence was much less prominent, and her sections felt disjointed compared to the rest of the book, and took a while to connect to the present timeline. The payoff was fairly clever, however. 

And given how multilayered and intricate, yet compelling the book is, there’s a lot going on. The family drama, history, multiple mysteries, and romantic arcs for all three women, and Williams does manage to pull it all off, even if it does take time. 

This was a solid book from Beatriz Williams, and I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy multilayered historical fiction/mystery/family saga style stories.