“A heartwarming, magical story about love, loss, and finding family where you least expect it. This touching novel will remind readers of a modern-day The Snow Child.”

NO MAJOR SPOILERS

Two lonely, vulnerable individuals bond over a child who says she has come from another planet in this beautiful story that showcases the beauty of nature and the simplest miracles that we never realize are right in front of us.

Joanna and Gabe, one still reeling from the double blow of losing her mother and having to fight cancer herself in the space of two harrowing years and the other grappling with social anxiety and depression with roots in an unresolved past, meet in rural Illinois. Jo is studying nesting birds for her graduate research and Gabe lives there, closed off from the world.

A child claiming to be from a different galaxy is not at all what Jo wants to deal with after her gruelling field work but when repeated questioning doesn’t yield any different answers and the law fails to help her, she reaches out to her neighbour Gabe for help.

Slowly the three form a bond that teaches Jo and Gabe how to live and not just survive. Through the eyes of Ursa, as she calls herself, they see the miracles of everyday life and the wonder in the unique patterns of nature.Jo’s insecurity over the physical changes her body has undergone and Gabe’s reluctance to come out of his shell fade away before the magical pull of the child who seems to make good things happen around her.

She is a unique child with a vocabulary far above her age and a determination to get what she wants. She loves marshmallows and baby birds and spending time looking for bird nests with Jo and Gabe. She gives kittens Shakespearean names and draws wonderful pictures.

But she is hiding something that starts to rear its ugly head just as the summer comes to a close. And though her new family of two is fiercely protective of her, the harbinger of good tidings needs a miracle herself to survive whatever it is.

A heartwarming story with very human, damaged characters who need to learn that the magic of the stars and the company of each other is what they need to heal.

 

Reviewed by:

Priya Prakash

Added 15th September 2020

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Priya Prakash