I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Star and the Strange Moon by Constance Sayers Published by Redhook on November 14 2023
Genres: Adult, Historical fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 480
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Constance Sayers’ latest is a beautifully written, complex story about movies, curses, monsters and fame.
“You would be wise to not run around asking about the film. It prefers to live in the shadows.”
Like Constance Sayers’ other books, The Star and the Strange Moon is a complex, character-driven story that moves back and forth in time. In fact, I was surprised to recognize at least one character in this book from A Witch In Time, the first book of Sayers’ that I read, and I suspect the author deliberately included this character as an Easter Egg for her readers. This time she tackles the “cursed movie” trope and succeeds brilliantly, bringing fresh ideas to one of the year’s most popular literary trends.
Christopher Kent is ten years old in 1986 when his life is forever changed by a strange scene involving his mother and a framed photo. In a hotel, Pamela Kent spots this photo on the wall and becomes enraged. Christopher doesn’t understand her behavior, nor does he (yet) understand the connection between his mother and the woman in the photo, who turns out to be a young actress named Gemma Turner. But the experience haunts him, and Christopher will spend the next fifteen years trying to uncover that connection.
We then jump back to 1968 and meet Gemma, a “washed up” twenty-two year old actress whose career hinges on whether or not she can impress Thierry Valdon, an avant-garde director who is famous for his New Wave style of movie making. Thierry is making a horror movie called L’Étrange Lune, or The Strange Moon, and he wants Gemma to be the star. Gemma agrees to Valdon’s terms—leaving her troublemaker musician boyfriend Charlie Hicks behind—and flies to France to begin filming. But after only a handful of days shooting, something odd happens on set. Gemma is filming a scene where she’s running down an alley, but suddenly she disappears. Despite the crew’s frantic searching, no one can find her, and she’s eventually proclaimed dead.
But Gemma isn’t dead. She’s been magically transported into the film L’Étrange Lune. Set in 1878, Gemma finds herself in a world of period costumes, and each person she meets is playing a part in the movie she was filming. Everyone is calling her “Gisele,” her character’s name in the movie, and she’s surrounded not by the actors she was working with, but by the characters themselves. How did she get her? And more importantly, how can she get back home?
Back in the “real” world, Christopher has never given up his obsession with tracking down information about Gemma and her ill-fated movie, L’Étrange Lune. And that persistence is about to pay off, as Christopher gets closer and closer to the truth of what really happened to Gemma.
The Star and the Strange Moon is a slow-build, enthralling mystery with surprises on just about every page. Constance Sayers loves to play with connections between her characters, and I loved the way these connections appear throughout the book. For example, the photographer who took the photo of Gemma that made Pamela Kent so angry is a character in Gemma’s 1968 timeline, a man named Rick Nash who took that photo during a party. Gemma’s agent Mick Fontaine turns out to be related to Christopher’s girlfriend Ivy. And those are just two examples in a story brimming with all sorts of fascinating connections. What’s even more impressive is that these connections cross time periods and locations, and you can tell the author put a lot of thought and time into figuring out her complicated relationships.
The dual timeline worked very well, and I enjoyed both Christopher’s search for Gemma in the present, and Gemma’s experience in the past, trapped in the movie she was filming when she disappeared. A big chunk of the story revolves around the mysterious, unfinished film L’Étrange Lune and the secret cult following it’s attracted. Christopher eventually turns up clues about the movie, but rather than have his questions answered, the mystery only deepens.
This isn’t a fast read by any means, but I enjoyed taking my time, lingering over all the different characters and their connections to Gemma. My only complaint is that the story did feel a little long in places. Some events didn’t feel important to the overall story and probably could have been left out. And while I loved the explanation for what happened to Gemma, there is a romantic element at the end that felt tacked on (although I will admit the story is building up to this romance from page one).
But aside from that, Constance Sayers has another winner on her hands. This isn’t my favorite of her books (that distinction goes to The Ladies of the Secret Circus), but you really can’t go wrong with any of them.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Stories with dual timelines that build up a mystery the reader needs to uncover are among my favorite kind of books, and this author is new to me, so I have not one but two reasons to explore this novel as soon as I can.
Great review, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…MICKEY 7 (Mickey 7 #1), by Edward Ashton #SciFiMonth
Mine too! And you should try her books at some point, I love them:-)
Too bad I’m not a fan of historical or romance…I could have eaten this one up (also, kudos to you for featuring a book that I hadn’t heard about until today!).
Roberta R. recently posted…Kiersten White: “Mister Magic”
Ooh I’m glad I could surprise you!
Ooh, sounds good! I feel like there have maybe been too many “cursed movie” books in the past few years… but on the other hand, I’ve enjoyed Constance Sayers’s other books (especially A Witch in Time), and your review is terrific. I think I need to read this one after all.
Her cursed movie book is very different. It’s not really horror, and the time jumps are a lot of fun.
I think I would really enjoy this story. I literally love everything about it that you have mentioned in your review, even though some parts were a bit on the long side. I think I could deal with that. 😛
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Nonfiction November 2023: Worldview Shapers
It did feel long at times, but really the subject matter is fascinating, I didn’t mind that much:-)
Usually slower reads are not for me but I think I could like this one!
It was all so interesting the slow pace worked fine:-)
I almost started this one and then decided against it and now I am mad at myself! I will have to get to it next because it definitely sounds wonderful! (Well- maybe next-next, because I am reading a longish book now and I can’t do 2 in a row heh.) I do love a character driven story done right, and this sounds like it certainly was! Great review, glad it was a win!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Reviews in a Minute: Noteworthy in November
I think you’ll like this one, and hey, I know what you mean about reading two long books in a row, I can’t do it either…
I really enjoyed this too, but samesies – mystery favorite of hers is still The Ladies of the Secret Circus 🙂
It was amazing!
I love dual timeline stories, and I like the idea of the character disappearing into the movie she was making. I think I will add this to my wishlist but as I already own The Ladies of the Secret Circus I’ll probably end up reading that first. 😀
Ooh definitely read Ladies of the Secret Circus first:-)
I like stories about movies. Adding this to my tbr.
Snapdragon recently posted…A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
I do too, this was a fun one.
Ooh, another one that sounds good! Maybe almost like an American Horror Story type of plot! But better as those usually lose me in the end of the season lately.
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…E-galley Review: Down for the Word Count (Unlucky in Love #3) by Piper Sheldon
I could see this as an American Horror Story plot, although it’s not as scary.
It’s a wonder how some authors can breathe fresh life into what might otherwise seem an overused trope. I guess that’s one of the many reasons we keep reading. 🙂
She’s very good, it doesn’t surprise me she could take a popular trope and make it her own:-)
Is it easy to follow?
Emma @ Words And Peace recently posted…Nonfiction November 2023: Book Pairings
Yes, I didn’t have any trouble.
Yes, this was great, the Ladies of the Secret Circus still takes No.1 but this was so good and I love all the connections like you mention, she’s such a good author, her way of linking so many things and turning on little light bulbs as the read progresses, in that way she kind of reminds me of Emily St John Mandel. This book does have a little repetition and moves at it’s own pace but I just loved getting lost in the pages and not feeling like I had to rush through.
Lynn 😀
She is so talented, I always get excited for her new books:-)
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this one, given this is a favourite author, Tammy:)). Thank you for a lovely review!