Star Gazing [Kindle Edition]

Linda Gillard's third published novel has two marvellous settings, including a beautifully-created Edinburgh; and a wonderful, spiky, difficult heroine. I wanted to bang her head together with another character's a few times, but that was because I CARED about her! The supporting cast is wonderful and provides some giggles and sweet moments. The added dimension of describing a character's experiences without using visual imagery gives the book a depth and interest that the casual reader might not expect - wonderfully evocative. An excellent read and highly recommended.

By turns funny, heartwrenching and heartstopping, this novel is never less than engrossing. To involve the reader so completely and convincingly in Marianne's story is a terrific achievement. Marianne is a wonderful heroine - and this is coming from a reader who usually wants to slap heroines within five pages. She's spiky, occasionally bad-tempered, endlessly angry for very good reasons, yet she's also resourceful, independent, emotionally mature and vulnerable. She's real. The gorgeous Keir is not more than a match for her - he's just a perfect match, and a perfect fit. As for Louisa and Garth, they're terrific. I loved this book - and I wasn't sure, right to the last chapter, how it would end.

Linda Gillard has done it again, in spades. Marianne is feisty and believable, refusing to be defeated by the many blows life has dealt her. Keir is another gorgeous Gillard hero, tough and all male, yet sensitive, - in more ways than one. With the feel and smells and sounds of Skye, who needs visual description? The plot was so exciting and scary I was afraid to read on towards the end, but was glad I had. There's a nice sub love story between Marianne's sister, Louisa, and Garth the reformed Goth too. A wonderful, truly romantic book, in every sense. I do hope it becomes the best-seller it deserves to be.

So much more than a romantic love story, though it is that as well. Linda Gillard does a fabulous job of conveying the life and experience of a woman blind since birth, not just how she manages in a sighted world, but how she perceives that world. This is done through rich, sensual language, the language of scents, textures, and sounds, particularly music. Despite the fact that the main protagonist has no idea what her surroundings look like, the sense of place is powerfully evoked, the Isle of Skye, the streets of Edinburgh, out on the ocean... The balance of themes is superb - we have adventure, and tragedy, and masses of action, plenty of danger, excitement, and fun too. The hero has to be described to us by a blind person, yet we have a vivid picture of him, and of course described as he is by touch, Gillard is able to convey his sexual attractiveness and his body language. The other characters are striking and individual, for this is also a tale of two sisters, in fact stereotypes are turned on their heads throughout which is something that always attracts me as a reader. This book, ironically, could be a beautifully visual film, with moments of edge-of-the-seat suspense, or a radio play with us looking through the protagonist's 'eyes'. To have a blind heroine is a tour de force, handled with the skilled aplomb of Linda Gillard - avoiding any sentimentality and keeping us rooting for a sometimes difficult, uncompromising woman whose blindness is part of her and not a hook for easy pity.

This is a great story about a middle aged blind woman who, whilst still dealing with past tragedies in her life, has to struggle with day to day living. Then along comes Kier who turns her life upside down in more ways than one! A joyful read with plenty of heart stopping moments! It also made me appreciate how difficult it must be for visually impaired people to form a 'picture' of so many different things we take for granted including space, distance, how small or vast things are such as mountains and the sea and even everyday objects such as what a bird looks like. I found this book an amazing visual journey, well worth reading.

I have only just finished this book and although I don't usually write reviews I felt I wanted to say a few words.
This was a love story but so different, very clever and loved the descriptions of the setting. I felt emotional in certain places and certainly didn't see what was coming. Lovely book!

Blind since birth and widowed in her twenties, Marianne has had more than her fair share of tough times. As a heroine, Marianne is not only immensely unique and likable, but she's a tough cookie too.
By chance, she meets Keir.
A man of Skye, he is every bit the brusque, resourceful Scot. But beneath this almost rude exterior there is something special about Keir; a sixth sense, which manifests itself as a sensitive and tangible medium to Marianne; and who could fail to be moved by a man who wanted to `show' her the stars?
Without sight, we are wholly reliant on the other senses, so as an author, a massive challenge to not only `see' from this perspective, but also to get across the small nuances of a romantic relationship between a blind woman, and a sighted man. Deprived of the conventional tool of vision, even in fiction, we are led so much deeper into the story and the perception of being blind adds a unique dimension. Music and sounds as a medium for description is beautifully portrayed and the Isle of Skye is a perfect, evocative backdrop.
I loved the gentle humour, more often than not provided by the dialogue between Marianne and her sister Louisa, who is a vampire novelist, (not forgetting Louisa's Gothic styled boyfriend!) all made for a good mix of light and dark.
As a love story, this novel clearly demonstrates how powerful 'subtle' and 'insightful' can be. There are not many books that fill me with moments of awe, but this one did, and not only for how much we take eyesight for granted. Some of the prose made me shiver. I could feel this book.