Thank you to HTP Books for our gifted copy of Sister Stardust by Jane Green. This book is available on April 5th!

Rating: 4 to 4.5 star
Genre: Literary/Biographical Fiction

I believe that this is classified as a biographical fiction. This is a story set in the 60's. Although this isn't my favorite genre, I really enjoyed this one. It took a little bit to get into, as the beginning sets the stage for the story.

You might enjoy this if:
-You enjoy fiction stories.
-You enjoy stories set in the 60's
-You enjoy historical fiction or stories set in certain time periods.

I have always been fascinated with the 60s fashion and music scene. I was so excited to read this as there are not many fiction books set in that time period. I loved it! The descriptions brought 1960s London and Morocco to life.

I had never read any books written by Jane Green but when I read a description of Sister Stardust about a young girl from a small British town who meets and parties in Marrakish with Talitha and John Getty, rock stars, actors and fashion designers in the Swinging 60's, I knew that I had to read it!

At the beginning of this book Claire is going through some boxes in the attic with her daughter, Tally. When Tally sees the beautiful Morrocon things in one of the boxes and letters from someone signed T, she wonders how her boring mum acquired them. Claire decides to tell her daughter about her anything but boring time in Marakesh during the swinging 60's. Her story is then told in a flashback..

In 1966 Claire lives in the small English town of Dorset. She yearns for more excitement and after a disagreement with her cold stepmother, Claire heads to London. Her life in London, working in a department store, isn't quite what she expected but she does start to get involved in the London nightlife. After she loses her job she is afraid that she will have to move back home. However things change when, through a series of fortuitous events, she finds herself flying to Morocco to stay at the home of Talitha and John Paul Getty Jr. in Marrakesh. Here she falls completely under the spell of Talitha, Marrakesh and the musicians, actors and celebraties that are frequently camped out at the Getty's Palace.

At first Claire is enthralled with the opulence of the home, the sights and smells of Marrakesh, all of the famous people she meets at their palace and the sex and drugs. Talitha takes Claire under her wing and they become friends. As she gets closer to Talitha Claire begins to feel very protective of her. Claire is right to feel protective of Talitha because beneath the beauty, glamour, opulence and hedonistic bohemian lifestyle is a troubled young woman.

This historical fiction novel based on real people is a page turner. Sister Stardust has a strong sense of place and the reader is brought into the sights, smells and marvels of Marrakesh and the Pop Culture scene of the 1960's. There is name dropping of famous rock starts, a lot of sex and drugs but also a story of female friendship and that of a vibrant young woman whose star burned too brightly to ever stay lit.

I knew the Getty name but didn't know much about Talitha or other members of the Getty family so reading this book led me to do some research. Jane Green has an extensive bibliography at the back of the book, too. There is even a fun Sister Stardust playlist that someon put on Spotify with songs by various rock groups with music popular at the time.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Fmk66fV8bBaAtTDx2LzaJ

There is also some information about Talitha and Sister Stardust fron Jane Green's website: https://www.janegreen.com/blog/

Sister Stardust will be published on April 5, 2022. Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of Sister Stardust for an honest review

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for a fair review.
The 1960s. Sex, drugs and rock and roll. If you were living wild and carefree or living vicariously through the lives of celebrities of the time, this book is for you.
There’s a lot of name dropping and storytelling here. The book vividly recreates the era. I quite enjoyed the writing and the movement of the story. I gobbled it in just a couple of sittings. I am a little young for the era so did a lot of googling about Talitha and Paul Getty. But I think the author does a fantastic job of luring in the reader and holding on tightly through to the end,

Claire has left her small town for the big city of London in the 1960’s. Her adventures lead her to Marrakesh where she meets the dazzling Talitha Getty.

I loved the background and setting! The ambiance of Morocco was incredible and really transports the reader. I feel like I may have enjoyed this more if I lived the times. I looked up a lot of the celebrities mentioned and it was fun to see their pictures in real life. The hedonism and partying was fun to read about but for me it started to drag as I waited for something to happen. I still enjoyed the story and definitely the atmosphere of it. Also I can’t wait to make some of the recipes included!

“Perhaps my whole life has been leading up to this moment, this place, these people.”

Sister Stardust comes out 4/5.

Wowee wow, how I enjoyed reading! What a time and place to get lost in - Marakech, the 60's, the music, the love. What a story. Jane Green did a stellar job at recreating a time, a place, and people I knew so little about. I was "googling" people, places, facts non-stop while reading. I love when a book does this to me! Sister Stardust is this year's Daisy Jones & the Six. Love, love, LOVE this book! A HUGE thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy. This book will be the "it book" of the spring and summer. I already have this title ordered in multiples across formats for my library. Can't wait to promote Sister Stardust to my library patrons!

This is my first Jane Green novel although I was aware of her excellent and compelling writing. Apparently, this Is her first novel inspired by a true story making this my favorite genre, historical fiction.

The author has re-imagined the life of troubled icon Talitha Getty set in the wild and uninhibited days of the '60s.

This saga, spanning a lifetime, begins in the country village of Dorset in England. We meet a Claire, a curious girl embarking on life. She has desires to be Twiggy skinny, rich and famous. After her beloved mother is killed, Claire’s father replaces her with a stepmother named Linda. The two do not get along and one day Linda exercises her power and throws Claire out of the home. Her father has no power over Linda so he watches it happen.

Boldly, and with very little resources, Claire sets off to London to begin fulfilling her dreams. Thanks to the yogurt diet, she achieves the emancipated look that gets her noticed.
In this newfound struggle at life, she never expectsed to cross paths with a woman as magnetic as Talitha Getty. You recognize the famous Getty name. Yearning for adventure and independence, she's swept off to Marrakesh, where the two become kindred spirits. Talitha is rich, famous, glamorous, and charismatic. This facade harbors a darkness few can understand. As their friendship blossoms and the two grow closer, the realities of Talitha's precarious existence set off a chain of dangerous events that could alter Claire's life forever… reckless behavior, quirky sex, heavy drinking, hard drug, including acid trips…

Moral if you don’t stop, sadly, life does.

I held my breath as sweet and innocent Claire was sucked into this reckless and dangerous lifestyle of the rich and famous, hoping it wouldn’t end her up in the morgue in her prime.

Well it didn’t as we know right off. The story begins, nostalgically, with Claire and daughter Tally in the attic, delving into some unopened boxes… boxes Claire then known as CeCe paid much money to ship from Morocco to London years ago. Clare reveals her early, shocking and nearly unbelievable life to her daughter.

This book was incredibly intriguing. I knew many of the famous names and bands and was in awe as a young nobody, CeCe was enveloped into their lifestyle. I was glad I read this on a kindle so I could look up so many of the places and terms foreign to me.
As I said it’s my first Jane Green novel and apparently this one is unique to her usual topic. I will read more as she is one good writer!

Jothebookgirl ponders…
I wonder if Claire had not lost the weight to beanpole status, would this have changed the path of her life? I just read a very well written middle school novel, Starfsh by Lisa Fipos which is about fat shaming so this topic is fresh on my mind

I have read quite a few Jane Green books over the years, so I was eager to read her upcoming book, “Sister Stardust.” Oh my, I am so glad I read this! If you like the British pop scene in the 1960s (think the Rolling Stones and psychedelic scene), then this is the book for you.
Young Claire grows up in a tiny village with a best friend, father, and dreadful stepmother. She goes off to London in search of a glamorous experience. After a while, by chance, she does end up with a racy crowd, including Talitha Getty, who takes young Claire under her wing. The group ends up in Marrakesh for their own “Summer of Love,” full of hedonism and other self-destructive acts.
I got some solid “Daisy Jones” vibes (if you haven’t read that book by Taylor Jenkins Reid yet, add it to your list asap!) from this book. I know parts are based on reality, and the author does a beautiful job of weaving fiction around the actual stories. This was a very well-rounded book that I will be recommending to many people.

Claire the narrator, is going through some items in her attic with her grown daughter when she decides. to tell Tally about her past. As the self-described pudgy country mouse from Dorset, Claire is thrown out of the house by her evil stepmother, and goes to London to find work. It is the swinging sixties, and she wants more than her village life offers. Her goal is to get thin and find a job, and she does both. A chance meeting with John, who is friends with rock musicians, continues her transformation into Cece. She finds herself headed for Morocco with her new friends, and winds up at the home of the beautiful Talitha, and her husband, Paul Getty. She adores this new life, constant partying with unlimited drugs, alcohol and sex , but then some really disturbing things happen, and she has to make some serious decisions about her future. Green really brings this time period, the late 1960's and early 1970's, alive with Cece's first person narration, when sex, drugs, and rock and roll were really what it was all about for this privileged, wealthy group. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this advance copy.

In the later 1960's, Claire escapes from her quiet Dorset village, finds employment in London, and, while in Marrakesh, gets swept up in the indulgent and hedonistic orbit of the beautiful and charismatic Talitha Getty, Dutch actress and model and wife of John Paul Getty.

I was so looking forward to reading this book, but unfortunately I didn’t find the same level of writing as her prior books. One issue I had was that parts seemed to drag on while the ending felt rushed.

Thank you to Net Galley for the digital advance copy. Claire lives in a small English town during the height of the swinging 60's in England. She yearns to go to London to be part of the scene that includes The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and the like as well as their hangers-on. A fight with her stepmother propels her to London where she lands a job in a department store and starts to mingle with the in-crowd. Through a series of events, she ends up in Morocco at the estate of the doomed Talitha Getty.. There is a little too much sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll involved, and Cl;aire eventually returns home to England. The story is told in flashback when Claire and her grown daughter are poking around the attic of Claire's home. The characters are amazingly drawn, the scene descriptions are magnificent, and Jane Green transports you to the era flawlessly.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Jane Green's newest novel, Sister Stardust. This addictive look at the chaos and excitement of the sixties is Green's first foray into historical fiction and it certainly doesn't disappoint.

Claire is from a small town in England, where she dreams of meeting the rock star heartthrobs that she reads about in magazines. A chance encounter on the bus suddenly brings her into the world of fame and fortune that she has always envied. With these newfound friendships come never-ending parties, drug- and alcohol-fueled adventures, and tragedies beyond her wildest imagination. As she becomes part of Talitha and Paul Getty's inner circle, Claire has to decide if this lifestyle will truly bring her the happiness that she so desperately craves.

A reimagining of Talita and Paul Getty living the rich and exciting life that small-town Claire can only dream about. But she has dreams and heads for London.

After some fortuitous meetings, she finds herself invited to stay at their home in Morocco. A place teeming with hedonistic pleasures and famous people.

She quickly adapts to this world of art, music, drugs, and partner swapping. And socialite, Talitha Getty takes her under her wing and shows her a different side to the glamour. While Claire, at first so charmed by these odd people, finds herself not sure at all she would want this permanently.

The book is told by Clair, after she and her daughter find boxes and boxes of beautiful things from Morocco, along with a note from Talitha asking her to return. And so begins a mother telling her daughter the fabulous adventures she had as well as the heartbreak.

What a fascinating look at this period in time. When musicians were gods and groupies were everywhere. Claire just wanted a glimpse of the Stones but she got way more than she bargained for. While she loved Morocco, she could never justify the things that happened there that change and ruined so many lives.

I absolutely loved this book. I learned so much about that time period and the famous and infamous people of that time. This was a well-told and much-loved book.

I enjoyed it immensely.

NetGalley/April 5th, 2022 by Hanover Square Press

This book takes place in the 70s, a very different era and setting than I usually read. It was interesting to read a decade I hadn’t read much before. While it dragged in parts, it was over all a good juicy read and would make for a great beach read.

Overall I enjoyed Sister Stardust. I think the comparisons with The Great Gatsby are apt, with Clair serving as the Nick to Talitha's Gatsby. Sister Stardust didn't really break any new ground when it comes to 1960s based historical fiction, but the story and characters are compelling, and it's a fun read.

3.5, rounded up.
I suspect that Sister Stardust is going to receive a ton of buzz in 2022, with its exotic lifestyle and setting, historical figures, and lush, transportive writing. It's a bit like Daisy Jones-meets-Gatsby or Midnight in Paris (although I personally enjoyed all of those comps more than this book.) To me, Claire isn't really an active protagonist so much as a participant or observer of events-- she's very much the Nick Carraway to Talitha Getty's Gatsby. I think that this will be more popular with older readers, who have more of a connection to the sixties and who prefer more subdued characters to edgy women. Even with its sex, drugs, and rock n' roll, and with the ahead-of-her-time Talitha, this novel lacks the darkness and searing, acerbic wit of more modern-feeling fiction.

This was unlike any book I’ve ever read by Jane Green! She now writes historical fiction! What a trip. I was completely absorbed in the hedonism and free love of the 60’s. This would make a fantastic movie! Read it all in 2 sittings. Thank you Netgalley!

I like the book very much - it did seem a little farfetched that this girl would get brought into this groupie life - inner circle of the Getty's - and just allowed to tag along, but it was a fun story.

Claire grew up in a small town in the 1960’s. As she approaches adulthood she desperately wants to experience more than what her home town has to offer. Clair is offered a chance to go live in Morocco, a place that famous artists and musicians are now frequently visiting. Once arriving, Claire is quickly pulled into a scene of music, drugs, and communal living. Will Claire survive this lifestyle?

Jane Green tells a biographical fiction story involving the infamous Talitha Getty. The journey of fictional character, Claire, is told in such detail that you can immediately connect with her. This was a great book, but be prepared for some emotional roller coaster moments. This is something different for Jane Green, and I would say it is a complete success!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.