Light from Uncommon Stars
Notes
Lovely book about found family and belonging while also including the dark experiences of transphobia and racism. Yet somehow the book is still both quirky and sophisticated.
And, I love it when a book inspires me to learn more. In this case, I started googling Bartok's sonata after I finished the book. I know next to nothing about music but the rich descriptions had me so intrigued. I was delighted to stumble upon the author's own playlist to accompany this book and listened to several versions of the sonata.
Main themes:
- Acceptance and understanding: a trans youth who endured years of abuse from those closest to her and has a lot of fear/mistrust to overcome to find ease and trust again; a daughter who is both real and not real, and whether she is deserving of being loved; and a daughter who has not felt welcomed following in her father's footsteps, even when there is no one else to take the reins.
- The price we're willing to pay to achieve our dreams -- whether that's being in the world as we truly are or mastering music for an eternal legacy.
Deep dives into food and music - don't read this book hungry or at least be within walking distance of a donut shop.
Backdrop:
- Gentrification
- Immigrant-run small businesses (beloved establishments)
- Classism