Starry Starry Night - by Shani Mootoo (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From celebrated writer Shani Mootoo comes an innovative and revelatory work of autofiction about family secrets, trauma, race, class, and loss.

In Starry Starry Night, Mootoo gives us the singular voice of Anju Ghoshal, a young girl living in 1960s Trinidad. Through Anju's innocent and clear-eyed observations, the reader becomes both a witness to and a participant in her negotiations of an unexpectedly new and complex life, spanning from the ages of four to twelve.

Set against the backdrop of a politically exciting time in Trinidad's history, just before and after it gained independence, we meet Anju's beloved Ma and Pa and her socially advancing family. While preoccupied with their own dramas, the adults around her often fail to recognize the needs of the children who depend on them.

Beautifully crafted and rich with sumptuous detail, this unique narrative coalesces into a portrait of a child who, despite her privileged appearance, must ultimately fend for herself because her safety depends on it.

Review Quotes

"Starry Starry Night will endure. Mootoo gives us a novel that is achingly alive, a portrait of the artist, a study of the languages instilled in us and the languages we must find, a living example of how art can breathe worlds, remembered, discovered, betrayed, beloved, shared, into life. As soon as the novel ended I wanted to begin again. This is Shani Mootoo's masterpiece." --Madeleine Thien, author of The Book of Records

"Starry Starry Night is a triumph of storytelling voice. Here, colonial history, fractured cultural space, and the sinuous complexities of kinship are each uniquely illuminated by the consciousness of a vulnerable child. This is a beloved book by a beloved author. This is Shani Mootoo at her most lyrical and intimate." --David Chariandy, author of Brother

About the Author

SHANI MOOTOO is the author of six novels, three collections of poetry, and one short story collection. She is a four-time Giller Prize nominee, and her work has been long and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Lambda Literary Prize, and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. She has been awarded the Doctor of Letters honoris causa degree from Western University, is a recipient of Lambda Literary's James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize, the Writers' Trust Engel Findley Award, and Library and Archives Canada Scholar Award. Mootoo was born in Ireland, raised in Trinidad, and lives in Southern Ontario, Canada.