Not my usual fare but I really liked the story. ( )

Stardust by Carla Stewart is an extraordinary novel about redemption, overcoming adversity despite overwhelming odds and the healing power of forgiveness. To read my review in its entirety, please visit http://www.bookreviewsandmorebykathy.com/2012/05/15/stardust/ ( )

1950's Texas Motel near the Bayou. Such a sweet read. Since finishing this I've found out it's classed as a 'Christian' read, if I'd known that before starting I might have been a bit leery of it. I've got beliefs but I'm not religious and I try to steer clear of anything that might be a bit preachy. That kind of stuff just rubs me up the wrong way. I didn't get preachy with this book though, I just got a lovely, sweet story.

The narrator Georgia is a recent widow and she hasn't had an easy life, she was abandoned as a child, married young to a womaniser and is now in sole charge of two young daughters and has inherited a run-down motel complex. Add to that the polio epidemic, her late husband's mistress and her children, a difficult mother in law, a little romance and money worries and it all makes for a really interesting story. It touches slightly on racial prejudices but as with everything in this book it's handled in a way that is touching and heartwarming.

I really liked this story and I might overlook the 'Christian' tag from now on as this is a great ambassador for the genre. Georgia is such a lovely person and I really enjoyed reading about her. The ending wasn't brilliant and there were a couple of things I would have liked more closure for but overall it was a good read.
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Georgia Peyton inherits the Stardust Hotel at a very opportune time. Her unfaithful husband has been found dead in a nearby swamp. With no way to support her two small daughters, the run-down hotel is a Godsend. However, in the times of Polio and Infantile Paralysis fears - not to mention the prejudices of a small town- life is not easy. With the help of Ludi, a black woman who worked for the former stardust owners, and Peter, a drifter, Georgia tries to start a new life.
Georgia also struggles with her own issues of having been abandoned at the Stardust years earlier by her parents. Raised by her (not exactly motherly) aunt, Georgia has had a hard life.
I will say that this story, although a little fairy-taleish in some places, deals with adoption more realistically than the last book I reviewed. I really enjoyed the story. Not a very deep read, but still a great beach read. ( )

Reading "Stardust," the newest offering from novelist Carla Stewart, is a bit like being a welcome guest at an East Texas church supper. You have a grand time, meeting the warmest, most interesting people, but you don't have a prayer of knowing any of them particulary well.

Still, "Stardust," is an engaging novel, the story of newly widowed Georgia Peyton, who must now to build a life as a single mother — no small feat in the early 1950s. She also is struggling to overcome the bitterness left behind by her dead husband, a two-timing cad, and to find a way for her two young daughters.

Just days after burying her husband, Georgia inherits a run-down travel court, a small group of cabins on the outside of her East Texas hometown. For her, the very spot has baggage of its own; it was there that her parents abandoned her as a child.

But it is there that, during the warmth of a Southern spring, she begins anew. The characters — both guests at the Stardust and folks from town — filter into her life with alarming regularity.

Among those we meet are a woman and two children from Zion, an African-American community just across the swamp; a Korean war veteran struggling with what seems to be PTSD; an alcoholic mother-in-law; the aunt who raised Georgia, facing bitterness of her own; a do-good doctor, a smarmy radio personality, a sheriff and an ex-Vaudeville musician who has a story, too. Oh. And the mistress of Georgia's dead husband.

All of this takes place against the backdrop of a polio epidemic that sends area families into hysteria, frightening every parent, christening every child with fear of an unseen enemy.

And so, while Georgia faces the very real rebuilding job on cabins with rotting roofs and run-down interiors, she also wrestles with the need to attract tourists during a summer families stay at home keeping precious, vulnerable children on a very short leash. She also must contend with a motley crew of Stardust guests who have rebuilding needs of their own.

Stewart's writing is at its strongest when confronting the polio epidemic. She nails the history, the atmosphere, the overwhelming fear of facing an invisible foe. Equally strong are her hints at the difficult life for those in Zion, the black community across the swamp.

Her characters are well-drawn and engaging, though weaving that many into the heart of the story weakened the pacing and limited the depth with which she might have explored Georgia's growth on so many fronts.

"Stardust" is an appealing book, lifted into a breezy read by Stewart's pleasing, Southern style, but particularly strong writing in deeper areas left me wishing for a story with the kind of depth she showed she was capable of delivering.

I received a free digital galley of this book from FaithWords, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. ( )