Title: The Moon, the Stars, and Madame Burova
Author: Ruth Hogan
Date/year published: 2021
Genre: Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Contemporary, Fantasy, Mystery
Format: Print, found in a Little Lending Library
Why did I choose to read it: I’ll be honest, found in Lending Library, I picked it up based on the cover design and the title alone. It just had a ring to it that sounded fun to me. Ironic ’cause Madame Burova is clairvoyant? I’ll let you decide.
Synopsis: Imelda Burova, clairvoyant, palmist, Tarot reader, is ready to retire and leave her booth at the seaside. Billie is looking for information about her identity. When the two of them cross paths, secrets Madam Burova’s been holding for decades begin to surface. With a host of unique friends, Burova and Billie will face their pasts together.
Thoughts:
After a few weightier reads, this was a welcome, delightful read.
It’s written in a back and forth style, flipping between decades and working towards the same point in time, the characters overlap as events unfold. It took me a few chapters to get the hang of it, but it wasn’t difficult and many of the early chapters are short. As soon as someone made an appearance in both time frames, my brain was able to follow along fine. I only mention this because some may find it choppy. I didn’t, and it really did flow the further in I read.
The summer seaside resort was well detailed, easily imaginable and sounded delightful. Though the book spanned approximately 50 years, the changes in the pier over the decades were well done, as were the recurring characters. The plot left you guessing too – (spoiler) it was obvious who everyone thought the father was, but you didn’t want it to be true, for many reasons.
There were cute ongoing touches, too. Madam Borova always had a dog, though not the same one. Clive was always there, the tea shop too, though it had different names. Touches like these, and the bits that tied the timelines together were brilliant. From a writer’s standpoint, I can’t imagine the plotting of the tale. Or did she sketch it all out and then snip it up? Either way, it couldn’t have been easy.
Would I re-read or recommend it?
Re-read? Maybe. Probably not. Hogan has other titles, a few of which I’ve heard good things. So it’s more likely that I’ll read those instead of rereading this one.
Recommend? Yes. Especially if any of the genres interest you. Although, it does cover life in England in the 1970’s and many adult topics (premarital sex, drinking, smoking) as well as child abandonment and clairvoyance. If you find any of those topics triggering or undesirable, I wouldn’t recommend it.
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