An Astonishment of Stars: Stories - Kirti Bhadresa - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Kirti Bhadresa

GENRE: Short Story Collection

PUBLICATION DATE: October 1, 2024

RATING: 3.55 stars

In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices short story collection focussing mainly on BIPOC woman characters and their emotions and conflicts. Partly literary, mostly true to life, entirely character-oriented. A good read when in the right mood for something deliberate and realistic.

This short story collection has fourteen character-oriented tales, with most of them coming from a woman’s perspective. There is no author’s note, but the publisher’s note at the end of the book says that it “charts the lives of racialised women as they navigate their relationships, aspirations, and the burdens of memory and expectations.” As this indicates, the dominant mood in the stories is not light and fluffy. The central characters range in age from child to adult, but the approach in every story is somewhat introspective.

The stories have been divided into three untitled sets (Part One with four tales and Parts Two and Three with five stories each), but I simply couldn’t figure out the basis of this division. Part One was the weakest for me, and had I not been an unwilling DNFer, I might have given up on this book after the third story. But good that I persisted – Parts Two and Three had some of the best character-focussed stories I have read in a long while.

The endings are not in the traditional HEA format, nor are they abrupt. Almost all stories end at a point when there is a life-changing decision or step being taken. While these may not satisfy every reader, especially those who prefer seeing happy faces at the end, they still work excellently for each narrative.

While I liked most of the endings, I struggled a bit more with the story structuring and the writing approach. It is tough to guess at the beginning of each tale the direction it will take. The story seems to meander across various points of a character’s life, whether on a single day or over a longer time period. Going with the flow would be better, as it is nigh on impossible to figure out the central intent of the narrative for at least half of the story. The overly mellow writing style doesn’t help; though I liked the stories, I didn’t feel that compulsion to keep reading more.

All the protagonists are BIPOC characters of varied ages, most coming from South Asian backgrounds and all settled in Canada. Though the racial aspect is highlighted in the theme, the stories don’t focus only on racial struggles or microaggressions. The plots are more introspective than action oriented, with each narrative delving into emotions and responses to potential challenges, which go well beyond racial identities. Also, unlike what the blurb declares, the narration isn’t always from a woman’s perspective. That said, every single story has a strong woman character, and even if we see her through the eyes of the narrator, her personality comes out strongly.

As always, I rated the stories individually. Of the fourteen stories, all except two reached or crossed the three stars mark, meaning I liked most of them. Here are my top favourites, with 4+ stars each.

🍁 Backstage Passes: Is rebellion really worth it? An interesting look at this question through the lives of two sisters in a conservative Indian family now settled in Canada. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍁 The Fundraiser: The travails of being a South Asian school mom in the US. Quite different from typical stories with this premise. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

🍁 Daksha Takes the Cake: Such a lovely story about an aspiring writer who discovers a hobby! I loved how heartfelt and down-to-earth this was. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍁 The Illness: A love story. Not romance, not lust, not steam. Just genuine, down-to-earth, heartfelt love. One of the most beautiful stories I have read in a long time. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍁 Braids: Rarely do we see the story of an Indian dad trying to connect with his teen daughter. That unusual perspective itself makes this a winner, but the plot and the dual-narrative perspective adds to the impact. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍁 The Worrier: A man takes multiple years to realise the purpose of his life. Enjoyed the subtle drama of this story, though it was a bit too meandering. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

All in all, a good collection with some true-to-life characters and realistic issues. The relatability of the characters and the situations they face, and the down-to-earth writing style, imbues every story with an honest realism.

Recommended to short story lovers who enjoy OwnVoices tales about human emotions and routine conflicts. It will work better when you are in the mood for something character-oriented and introspective.

3.55 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each tale.

My thanks to ECW Press for providing the DRC of “An Astonishment of Stars” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.