Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2014
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Brigid Pasulka's PEN/Hemingway award-winning debut novel was compared to the works of Jonathan Safran Foer by the New York Times and hailed by Elle as "storytelling that gets under your skin and forces you to press copies into your best friends' hands." Now The Sun and Other Stars, Pasulka's extraordinary second novel, is all that and more: a profound, compelling, and big-hearted masterpiece that showcases an exquisite writer at the joyful height of her talents.
In the seaside village of San Benedetto, a resort town on the Italian Riviera, twenty-two year-old Etto finds himself adrift. Within the past year, Etto has not only lost both his twin brother and his mother, but in his grief has become estranged from his father, the local butcher. While his father passes the time with the men of the town in the fine tradition of Italian men everywhere - a reverential obsession with soccer - Etto retreats ever further from his day-to-day life, seeking solace in the hills above the town.
But then a Ukrainian soccer star, the great Yuri Fil, sweeps into San Benedetto, taking refuge himself from an international scandal. Soon Yuri and his captivating tomboy sister Zhuki invite Etto into their world of sport, celebrity, loyalty, and humor. Under their influence, Etto begins to reconstruct his relationship with his father and, slowly, open himself back up to the world. Who knows: perhaps the game of soccer isn't just a waste of time, and perhaps San Benedetto, his father, love, and life itself might have more to offer him than he ever believed possible.
The Sun and Other Stars is a gorgeous, celebratory tale about families, compromise, and community, and about how losses can be transformed into hope. Irresistible and unforgettable, it is a shimmering miracle of a book.
"[The] complications could easily have been cloyingly 'heartwarming,' but Pasulka avoids cliché with some lovely writing... well-placed low humor, and specificity of place." - Publishers Weekly
"Pasulka scores a refreshing success with her affectionate portrait of a small-town community and her fresh angle on an aching heart." - Kirkus
"This simple love story by the Pen/Hemingway Award-winning author of A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True is heavy on soccer - and Italian profanity, which, since it's in Italian, seems cute and not offensive." - Library Journal
This information about The Sun and Other Stars was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo Credit: Matthew Gilson
Brigid Pasulka was born and raised in rural Illinois and has lived in Poland, Russia, Germany and Italy.
Her debut novel, A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True won the 2010 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection.
Her second novel, The Sun and Other Stars, was an Indie Next pick for February 2014.
Brigid lives in Chicago with her husband and son and runs the writing center at a public high school.
Author Interview
Link to Brigid Pasulka's Website
Name Pronunciation
Brigid Pasulka: Pa –soolk –ah
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
