Publication
Ebury Press, c2015.
Status
Available
Description
"From the author of The Day We Met ("As with Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes, I couldn't put this book down."--Katie Fforde) comes a beautiful, life-affirming novel that sparkles with love and wonder. We Are All Made of Stars is an unforgettable story about second chances, the power of words, and the resilience of the heart"-- "Hospice nurse Stella prefers the night shift after Afghanistan left her veteran husband a changed man, haunted at night by memories he can't bring himself to share. Writing final letters for her hospice patients to their loved ones gives Stella the chance to help others communicate as she cannot. She only has one rule: she mails the letter only once her patient is no longer alive. When she meets a patient with a chance at redemption, she finds herself torn between respecting a dying woman's wishes and reuniting her with the son she abandoned years ago"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member DubaiReader
Letters from the dying.
I've never read anything by Rowan Coleman before, I guess I had her down as a bit of a Chick-Lit author, but We Are All Made of Stars seemed to be getting a lot of attention so I decided to listen to the audiobook from Audible. Before I go any further I must say that this was
There are four relationships under the microscope here, Stella, the central character and her Afghanistan Vet husband, Vincent; Hope, a Cystic Fibrosis sufferer, recouperating from a severe infection, and her friend Ben; Hugh and Sarah, the girl who moves in next door (and his cat, Jake, who contrives to visit all the characters in the book); and Gladys who joins the cast later on but links back to Hugh.
Stella works in a hospice for terminal and recouperating patients and has become known amongst them a writer of last letters to loved ones. This becomes the theme that holds the book together, though I wasn't so keen on the letters that bore no relation to characters in the book, possibly because in narration these came over as a bit superfluous, perhaps the written version has them in italics, or something.
The letters are always sealed and kept for the loved ones on the death of the patient, but Stella is not happy about one particular letter, which she wants to deliver now, before it is too late.
This was a great read, with an excellent balance of sadness,love and humour. I might well take a look at some of Rowan's more recent books, if not her earlier, more Chick-Lit titles.
I've never read anything by Rowan Coleman before, I guess I had her down as a bit of a Chick-Lit author, but We Are All Made of Stars seemed to be getting a lot of attention so I decided to listen to the audiobook from Audible. Before I go any further I must say that this was
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an excellent narration from Avita Jay and Ben Allen and I particularly liked the voice of Ben, from Avita.There are four relationships under the microscope here, Stella, the central character and her Afghanistan Vet husband, Vincent; Hope, a Cystic Fibrosis sufferer, recouperating from a severe infection, and her friend Ben; Hugh and Sarah, the girl who moves in next door (and his cat, Jake, who contrives to visit all the characters in the book); and Gladys who joins the cast later on but links back to Hugh.
Stella works in a hospice for terminal and recouperating patients and has become known amongst them a writer of last letters to loved ones. This becomes the theme that holds the book together, though I wasn't so keen on the letters that bore no relation to characters in the book, possibly because in narration these came over as a bit superfluous, perhaps the written version has them in italics, or something.
The letters are always sealed and kept for the loved ones on the death of the patient, but Stella is not happy about one particular letter, which she wants to deliver now, before it is too late.
This was a great read, with an excellent balance of sadness,love and humour. I might well take a look at some of Rowan's more recent books, if not her earlier, more Chick-Lit titles.
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LibraryThing member JenniferLynn
Loved it. The book centered around Stella, Hope and Hugh. Stella has gone from being a trauma nurse to working at a hospice, since her husband returned home from Afghanistan. She was used to helping her patients live now she is with them when they die. Stella writes letters to their loved ones or
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any one else they want to send a letter to before death. Sometimes it's to tell a husband how to use a washing machine, letting a wife know there's money hidden in a tin under the floor, or letting a son know that his mother is still alive. Stella will only work at night and is trying to fix the problems she is facing with her husband. Hope ends up at the hospice because of her cystic fibrosis. She meets a young cancer patient whom inspires her to break out of her shell and live and to kiss as many boys as she can. One of the funnier parts of the book was Hugh and his cat, Jake. Jake seemed to show up throughout the book and went by several identities. It was hard not to cry in some parts, the book was very touching and made me think what I would write in a letter to my husband and daughter. I love Rowan Coleman's books and look forward to reading her next one. Show Less
LibraryThing member nbmars
This lovely story is centered around a nurse, Stella, working in a London area hospice for mostly terminal patients, and the emotional ups and downs in her own life as well as the lives of her patients and their families. Interspersed throughout the book are letters that hospice patients have asked
In addition to the focus on Stella and her husband Vincent, who is suffering from severe PTSD after having served in Afghanistan, we also get to know two other couples: Hope, who has Cystic Fibrosis, and her upbeat, loyal BFF Ben; and Hugh, a historian who curates a Victorian collection of mementos mori (artistic or symbolic reminders of the dead), and his new next-door neighbor, single-mom Sarah and her very funny and endearing ten-year-old son.
Through the letters and the characters, we hear different takes on mortality and on making sense of your life. All of these people have been through both good and bad times, but as Sarah says to Hugh:
“I’ve been through crap too, you know. I’ve cried my guts up, more than once. It’s not easy, being in this world. Picking yourself up, getting yourself together, time after time, only for some bastard to whack you back down. But what else can you do, right? If you keep getting up, sooner or later something or someone is going to show the reason why it’s worth keeping on trying.”
The story keeps coming back to the importance of relationships in keeping people going. “We are all made of stars,” one patient writes:
“You and I and all of life, we were all born out of the death of a star, millions of billions of years ago. A star that lived long and then, before its death, burnt at its brightest, its fiercest, an enflaming supernova. But when it died, it did not cease to exist. Instead, everything it is made of becomes part of the universe once again, and everything that is part of the universe becomes us.
So do not miss me, because I do not die. I transform into the wind in the tops of the trees, the wave on the ocean, the pebbles under your foot, the dust on your bookshelves, the midnight sky.
Wherever you look, I will be there.”
The thoughts of these characters, and their struggles for meaning and love will stay in your thoughts and your hearts.
Evaluation: This is not a depressing novel, in spite of the themes and setting. On the contrary, it is quite uplifting and inspirational. Coleman is often compared to Jojo Moyes and I think it is a valid comparison, although Moyes moves me to tears much more than Coleman. This story is well worth reading.
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Stella to write for them and deliver to their loved ones after they die. The letters are touching and funny and help illustrate the theme that “[y]ou fight till your last breath for the people that you love, and your dreams, the future that you want. And you can fight for your past too, because it’s not too late to know how much it mattered . . . "In addition to the focus on Stella and her husband Vincent, who is suffering from severe PTSD after having served in Afghanistan, we also get to know two other couples: Hope, who has Cystic Fibrosis, and her upbeat, loyal BFF Ben; and Hugh, a historian who curates a Victorian collection of mementos mori (artistic or symbolic reminders of the dead), and his new next-door neighbor, single-mom Sarah and her very funny and endearing ten-year-old son.
Through the letters and the characters, we hear different takes on mortality and on making sense of your life. All of these people have been through both good and bad times, but as Sarah says to Hugh:
“I’ve been through crap too, you know. I’ve cried my guts up, more than once. It’s not easy, being in this world. Picking yourself up, getting yourself together, time after time, only for some bastard to whack you back down. But what else can you do, right? If you keep getting up, sooner or later something or someone is going to show the reason why it’s worth keeping on trying.”
The story keeps coming back to the importance of relationships in keeping people going. “We are all made of stars,” one patient writes:
“You and I and all of life, we were all born out of the death of a star, millions of billions of years ago. A star that lived long and then, before its death, burnt at its brightest, its fiercest, an enflaming supernova. But when it died, it did not cease to exist. Instead, everything it is made of becomes part of the universe once again, and everything that is part of the universe becomes us.
So do not miss me, because I do not die. I transform into the wind in the tops of the trees, the wave on the ocean, the pebbles under your foot, the dust on your bookshelves, the midnight sky.
Wherever you look, I will be there.”
The thoughts of these characters, and their struggles for meaning and love will stay in your thoughts and your hearts.
Evaluation: This is not a depressing novel, in spite of the themes and setting. On the contrary, it is quite uplifting and inspirational. Coleman is often compared to Jojo Moyes and I think it is a valid comparison, although Moyes moves me to tears much more than Coleman. This story is well worth reading.
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LibraryThing member countrylife
Uplifting vignettes as a hospice nurse writes letters for patients at the end of their lives, intertwined with the stories of the major characters: the nurse, Stella, whose husband has returned wounded from Afghanistan; Hope, temporarily receiving respite care at the hospice, and Hugh, who lives in
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the neighborhood. With a little bit of young love, a little bit of working through marriage issues, a lot of forbearance and working on understanding, this was a sweet book. Show Less
LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35
This book reminded me of European movies, the ones like Love Actually with multiple intertwining stories around a central theme. In this case, the stories are centered around a hospital ward filled with patients seriously ill or near death. For several patients, the nurse Stella writes letters to
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their loved ones to be posted after death. Ultimately, a very hopeful novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member nyiper
What an appealing bunch of characters Coleman created! I wanted to know more about each one of them and Coleman did not disappoint. Now I have to go back and read her earlier books.
LibraryThing member cwhisenant11
We Are All Made of Stars
By Rowan Coleman
Narrated By Ben Allen and Avita Jay
Published 2016 by HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books
11 hours and 33 minutes
I received a free audio copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The structure of the book made the listening a
Stella is the main character and the link to all of the other characters. She is married to a wounded veteran and works night shift as a hospice nurse. Through her nursing, she forms relationships with her patients and begins writing “final” letters for some of them to be sent to recipients after passing. One particular letter troubles her and Stella decides to break her promise to the patient and deliver the letter before the patient’s death. It was interesting to see how all of the subplots began to fit together but most of the letters mingled throughout the story were random and not related to any of the main characters.
The female points of view were narrated by Avita Jay and the male points of view were narrated by Ben Allen. I thought both narrators did a decent job performing but I had a little trouble understanding their British accents at times. I typically love listening to narrators with British accents but neither of these narrators gave standout performances.
I would definitely recommend this book to my chick lit friends but I would opt for the print version instead of the audio.
By Rowan Coleman
Narrated By Ben Allen and Avita Jay
Published 2016 by HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books
11 hours and 33 minutes
I received a free audio copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The structure of the book made the listening a
Show More
challenge. The story opens with a letter written by a dying wife, Dorothy, to her husband Len. Then the prologue introduces Stella and Vincent. Next, the first chapter introduces Hope and Ben and a few chapters later we meet Hugh. It was all too much information from too many points of view and no point of reference. Once I caught on to the structure and got to know the characters, however, a beautiful and poignant story unfolded. Stella is the main character and the link to all of the other characters. She is married to a wounded veteran and works night shift as a hospice nurse. Through her nursing, she forms relationships with her patients and begins writing “final” letters for some of them to be sent to recipients after passing. One particular letter troubles her and Stella decides to break her promise to the patient and deliver the letter before the patient’s death. It was interesting to see how all of the subplots began to fit together but most of the letters mingled throughout the story were random and not related to any of the main characters.
The female points of view were narrated by Avita Jay and the male points of view were narrated by Ben Allen. I thought both narrators did a decent job performing but I had a little trouble understanding their British accents at times. I typically love listening to narrators with British accents but neither of these narrators gave standout performances.
I would definitely recommend this book to my chick lit friends but I would opt for the print version instead of the audio.
Show Less
LibraryThing member shazjhb
So much to this book. CF, hospice, PTSD, death, letters and amazing people. Lots of crying.
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
9780091951382
Original publication date
2015-01-08