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Summary
Summary
"Gorgeous . . . Sings with insights about love, work and how we create our own families" --Oprah.com
"Amy Brill shines in her sparkling debut novel." -- Vanity Fair
"Brill's rich detail and research are hugely impressive; it's easy to envision the scenes she sees."-- USA Today
"Beautifully written and richly characterized." -- Kirkus (starred review)
"A terrifically poised and captivating debut."--Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife
A love story set in 1845 Nantucket, between a female astronomer and the unusual man who understands her dreams.
It is 1845, and Hannah Gardner Price has lived all twenty-four years of her life according to the principles of the Nantucket Quaker community in which she was raised, where simplicity and restraint are valued above all, and a woman's path is expected to lead to marriage and motherhood. But up on the rooftop each night, Hannah pursues a very different--and elusive--goal: discovering a comet and thereby winning a gold medal awarded by the King of Denmark, something unheard of for a woman.
And then she meets Isaac Martin, a young, dark-skinned whaler from the Azores who, like herself, has ambitions beyond his expected station in life. Drawn to his intellectual curiosity and honest manner, Hannah agrees to take Isaac on as a student. But when their shared interest in the stars develops into something deeper, Hannah's standing in the community begins to unravel, challenging her most fundamental beliefs about work and love, and ultimately changing the course of her life forever.
Inspired by the work of Maria Mitchell, the first professional female astronomer in America, The Movement of Stars is a richly drawn portrait of desire and ambition in the face of adversity.
Author Notes
Amy Brill is a writer and producer who has worked for PBS and MTV, and has been awarded fellowships by the Edward F. Albee Foundation, the Millay Colony, and the American Antiquarian Society, among others. This is her first novel. She lives in Brooklyn.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A determined young woman, born into a Quaker community in 19th-century Nantucket, defies social norms on the path to becoming a "lady astronomer" in Brill's charming debut novel. Very loosely based on historical "girl" astronomer Maria Mitchell, Hannah Price spends her days going to Quaker meetings and tending to books at her town's library, but nights she spends with her eyes on celestial bodies or crouched over mathematical calculations, dreaming of discovering a comet all her own. A serious girl obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge, Hannah fears the passionate restlessness of her twin brother Edward, even as she rejects the strictures of marrying to attain stability. Hannah's sober routine is interrupted when she takes on a new pupil, Isaac Martin, a sailor from the Azores, whose race shakes up Hannah's standing in the town. Martin's ideas and instinctive personal connection with his new teacher alter her attitude toward love and faith. From the main streets of Nantucket to its dunes and shores, from a Harvard observatory to the cities of Europe, Hannah's emotional and professional journey will please fans of feminist-minded and romantic historical fiction. Agent: Julie Barer, Barer Literary. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A young woman has her eyes opened to her community's limitations--and her own--in television writer/producer Brill's strong debut. In the small, tightly controlled Quaker settlement on Nantucket in 1845, 24-year-old Hannah Price's principal duties are to behave and dress with sober decorum and to find a husband. Though her father has encouraged her passion for astronomy since she was a girl, he's lost interest in celestial observations since her beloved twin brother, Edward, shipped out on a whaling vessel nearly three years earlier. Hannah dreams of sighting a new comet and winning the King of Denmark's prize, but when her long-widowed father announces that he plans to remarry and relocate to Philadelphia, assuming as a matter of course that Hannah must accompany him, she sees painfully and angrily how little control she has over her own life. She is further unsettled by Isaac Martin, a sailor from the Azores who brings his ship's chronometer to be recalibrated and asks Hannah to teach him how to use it. Quakers are against slavery but hardly free of racial prejudice; Hannah's sessions with Isaac scandalize the meeting--and though her critics are narrow-minded, they're not wrong that she is uneasily attracted to a man she has been raised to believe is beneath her. Hannah is by no means a saintly heroine; as her returned brother's new wife points out, she is quick to judge and slow to see anything that can't be observed through astronomical instruments. In spare yet luminous prose, Brill shows Hannah achieving emotional and spiritual growth to match her intellectual gifts: Gaining her heart's desire to be recognized as a scientist, she also finds the courage to acknowledge her feelings for Isaac. Brill's realistic, poignant conclusion gives her appealing protagonist almost equal portions of happiness and sorrow, just as she has done equal justice throughout to the passions of the mind and the flesh. Probing yet accessible, beautifully written and richly characterized: fine work from a writer to watch.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Hannah Price spends her nights on the rooftop porch with a telescope pointed at the heavens, hoping to spot a new comet. During the day, she chafes under the strict discipline of her mid-nineteenth-century Quaker community in Nantucket. She also chafes under her own sense of propriety and self-discipline when she finds herself drawn to handsome and passionate Isaac, the Azorean second mate on a whaling vessel who has sought her out for instruction in navigation. Their obstacles are similar both hope to achieve greatness in disciplines dominated by white men and soon Hannah cannot deny her affection, much to the displeasure of her community. Brill has created a compelling and likable character in Hannah Price; it's easy to root for her to find her comet and acknowledge her feelings for Isaac. Hannah's search during a period of great discovery and advancement in astronomy, as well as her relationship with Isaac amid widespread abolitionist sentiments, adds up to a stirring historical drama. In an author's note, Brill acknowledges that pioneering, Nantucket-born, comet-discovering astronomer Maria Mitchell was the inspiration for Hannah's story.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
On 1845 Nantucket, all Hannah Gardner Price wishes is to find a comet, but she's been brought up in a community of Quakers who believe a woman's path, however well she has been educated, is toward marriage and children. At 24, Hannah hopes for something more: to remain single, helping her father with their business working on nautical instruments and, perhaps, getting a government contract to map the coastline. Into her life comes Isaac Martin, a black whaler who wishes to learn navigation and hires her to help him. As the lessons progress, she finds herself drawn to Isaac. Narrator Carla Mercer-Meyer does an adequate job voicing the many characters, especially Hannah and Isaac. The odd, inconsistent mispronunciations of some words may bother some listeners. Verdict This novel, which was inspired by the life and work of Maria Mitchell, will appeal to fans of historical novels with an underlying romantic interest. ["Brill's debut raises thought-provoking questions on the limitations to achievement societies impose based on race, gender, or divergent beliefs. For readers of historical fiction, particularly those with an interest in science, who savor the unfolding of a character's emotional and intellectual development," read the review of the Riverhead hc, LJ 1/13.-Ed.]-Suanne B. Roush, Osceola H.S., Seminole, FL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.