Stars in the Southern Sky

Stars in the Southern Sky is a stand alone book by Elizabeth Haran.

Estella was happily married, lived in a grand house in London, and had a very well off husband who was a lawyer. When she found out she was pregnant she couldn't wait to tell him the news. But before she had the chance, her world fell apart when she catches him kissing her cousin Davinia! When she approaches him he tells her that they are broke, they'll have to sell all their assets, oh and he wants a divorce because yes he's been having an affair and is leaving her for her cousin!!! She can't tell him about her pregnancy because he also added that he's glad they had no children because he doesn't want to be a father. Besides that, if he did decide to stay with her, she'd know that it was only because of the baby. So at a loss for what to do, where to go, and desperate for comfort, she packs her bags and turns up on her Aunt Flo's doorstep.

Her mother and father divorced when she was small because they moved to one of Australia's most isolated towns, and her mother couldn't cope with life there. She packed up herself and Estella and returned to England. Over the years she didn't let on to Estella that she knew where her father was, or that he desperately wanted contact with her. Her Aunt Florence, knew though and when everything fell to pieces for Estella, Flo finally broke her promise and told Estella about her dad being a vet in Kangaroo Crossing, but that sadly he had recently died, and the townsfolk are looking for a new vet. It's something Estella is trained to do, and the job comes with lodging, plus she will be too far away for her ex to ever know that she is pregnant. It sounds perfect, so with the help of her aunt and her Uncle Charlie in Kangaroo Crossing, arrangements are made and she starts her epic journey to Australia.

From there the story is phenomenal. Estella being a woman, a young woman, and never having actually practised being a vet has to win over very stubborn Australian farmers. She has to learn to live with the absolute essentials in life, her home doesn't even have running water. The weather is ridiculously hot, the flies don't let up, and before she is even there for a day she ends up collapsing and in hospital from dehydration. Not a good start to her time there. So much is against her, but she is determined to win over the people. At first she just wants to earn money to earn her plane fare home, but as time goes on will that change. Can she get the people to trust her, can she ever acclimatise herself to her new surroundings, how can she bring up a baby in such an isolated place? Did she make the wrong move by going there?

Estella's story had me gripped from the moment I read about her husband wanting a divorce. How she coped in Australia with all the problems that she had to overcome had me hanging on to every word. It isn't just her story that is captivating though, it is the perfect description of the people there, the landscape, the wildlife, the way of life. It felt like if I closed my eyes I might open them again and be there with Estella. I loved her interaction with the aboriginals, I loved picturing the stars in the sky, the stunning animals, even the horrid dusty heat and living in drought conditions. Even though Estella struggled, I could easily picture myself leaving my home and taking up a life just like hers. Am I insane, maybe, or just maybe the author made me appreciate the beauty of an isolated spot in Australia despite the hardships one would have to endure.

The way the author describes the characters deserves mention too. There was so much difference between them all, even the station owners who all have the same needs, each have their own individual personality. Then there's Estella's uncle who is a real hoot, and god forbid when his pub runs out of beer. Doctor Dan and Murphy two men that are interested in Estella both have very big issues to deal with from their pasts, and then there is general store owner, a man whose trust in her is the first step towards her earning the trust of the other town people.

The book was perfect from beginning to end, it made me run the whole gamut of emotions, including tears. Not just tears at sad moments, or happy tears, but also huge tears for the absolute beauty of the way the story ends. I cannot fault this book at all, it's perfection and I cannot recommend it enough.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers' copy of this book.