23. Book Review: Under the Wide and Starry Sky (2014)

Under the Wide and Starry Sky: A Novel by Nancy Horan

Synopsis

From Nancy Horan, New York Times bestselling author of Loving Frank, comes her much-anticipated second novel, which tells the improbable love story of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and his tempestuous American wife, Fanny. 

 At the age of thirty-five, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne has left her philandering husband in San Francisco to set sail for Belgium—with her three children and nanny in tow—to study art. It is a chance for this adventurous woman to start over, to make a better life for all of them, and to pursue her own desires. Not long after her arrival, however, tragedy strikes, and Fanny and her children repair to a quiet artists’ colony in France where she can recuperate. Emerging from a deep sorrow, she meets a lively Scot, Robert Louis Stevenson, ten years her junior, who falls instantly in love with the earthy, independent, and opinionated “belle Americaine.” 

 Fanny does not immediately take to the slender young lawyer who longs to devote his life to writing—and who would eventually pen such classics as Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In time, though, she succumbs to Stevenson’s charms, and the two begin a fierce love affair—marked by intense joy and harrowing darkness—that spans the decades and the globe. The shared life of these two strong-willed individuals unfolds into an adventure as impassioned and unpredictable as any of Stevenson’s own unforgettable tales.

Review

These days I am almost scared to read authors' 'much anticipated second novels' as a lot of them have fallen flat for me lately.  It's hard to know exactly how to review this book, to be honest.

I absolutely LOVED this author's first book Loving Frank and so I was excited to be taken on another one of Horan's literary adventures into the story and history of a bright man.

This book was long and pro-longed at times, going on and on about his sickness, his inability to have the life he wanted and the struggles of his wife.  I feel like this book could have been half as long with an extra dose of drama added in.  Even when Robert Louis Stevenson was well and successful the book glossed over those parts and tended to focus on his sickness and 'starving artist' life.  

With all that being said I will say that there was a slow meandering and depth to this book that made it very likable.  The reader is on an adventure to be sure… just one that moves quite slow at times.  Portions of the end of the book I just skipped because it felt so repetitive.  But this book left a lasting legacy in my mind at least.  Days after finishing this book I find myself wondering what Fanny and Louis are up to or replaying scenes in my head over and over.  For that I think the book is a success.  If you were/are a fan of RLS this book would likely be even more of a success.  So this book gets a mixed review from me.

Other books you may like…

Loving Frank: A Novel

Hemingway's Girl

The Paris Wife: A Novel