A head injury makes it difficult for Alice to piece her thoughts together and speak. Most people assume that she is no longer intelligent, and she cannot go to school because all the noise triggers seizures. By day, she writes poetry and hides it in plain view in the city. At night, she often sits on the roof of her house, observing others below her hill.
Manny, who experienced atrocities in war-torn Sierra Leone, finds Alice's poetry and realizes he is not the only one who feels broken inside. He's compelled to discover the author. Eventually they meet, but Alice's past and nature itself threaten to tear them apart.
The Stars at Oktober Bend is a beautifully written novel about love, courage, and hope and contains a surprisingly suspenseful ending. It's no wonder this novel won the TAYSHAS award and was short-listed for the 2017 Carnegie Medal. Fans of The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner will appreciate the similarities between the two books and the nod to Faulkner.
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