Daughter of the Stars: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Phyllis A. Whitney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

"Were they all lying? Misleading me for their own purposes?..."
Lacey Elliot has been a woman without a past since the day her mother whisked her off to Charlottesville, refusing for thirty years to speak of her father, her family, or her history.
But when Lacey intercepts a desperate letter from an aunt in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, Lacey sees her chance to confront the past that has terrified her mother and to fill in the gaps in her own life.
Against the charm and colorful, turbulent history of the picturesque town, the violent history of Lacey's heritage is about to repeat itself. As she finds herself drawn to a man intrigued by the town for reasons of his own, old ghosts reappear and danger returns--as a killer walks among them once more....
"Evocative, moving, suspenseful--another surefire winner from the writer who taught all of us how it should be done."
--BARBARA MICHAELS
PHYLLIS A. WHITNEY IS A WINNER OF THE GRAND MASTER AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT FROM THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Once again thrusting her trademark likable heroine into a murky situation, this veteran author comes up with a better than average mystery/romance. After receiving an urgent letter, children's-book author Lacey Elliott rushes from her Virginia home to Harpers Ferry, W.Va., hoping to uncover the truth about her father's murder. She encounters an assortment of relatives: great-aunt Vinnie, who harbors a secret; grandfather Daniel, who was suspected of the murder; a half-sister, Caryl, and her young son Egan; great-grandmother Lacey; and Henry Elliot, her father's strange, drunkard brother. She also meets handsome history professor Ryan Pearce-their blossoming romance is chastely indicated by a few innocent kisses. The mystery is heightened by the presence of a few Civil War ghosts who ultimately shed light on the killing. Whitney depicts both the town itself and the raid conducted there by abolitionist John Brown (as narrated by one of the characters) with her customary attention to background details. Suspense fans will be caught up in this yarn's myriad plot twists, which culminate in a gratifying surprise ending.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

YA?A light, fast-paced mystery. Lacey returns to the town of her birth, Harper's Ferry, WV, and becomes involved in trying to learn who killed her father 30 years ago. The multifaceted plot is further enriched (and complicated) by flashbacks to the Civil War, as ancestors motivate contemporary characters' actions. (It's unfortunate that there's no family tree to help keep characters in their proper time period.) Only Lacey's personality is fully developed. Although keeping the time periods straight may challenge some readers, this quick read provides a look at Harper's Ferry's key role in the preliminary days of the Civil War.?Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books; 2 edition (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345480333
• ISBN-13: 978-0345480330
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story, unlikeable characters, May 24, 2001

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Daughter of the Stars (Mass Market Paperback)

DAUGHTER OF THE STARS is the story of Lacey Elliot, and her search for answers about a family she knows nothing about. Her mother Amelia is recovering from cancer surgery when she receives a letter that Lacey intercepts. The letter is from a relative, Vinnie, who is the sister of Amelia's deceased mother Ida. From this letter, Lacey's search for her roots begins. She travels to Harper's Ferry where Vinnie and other family members reside, and soon Lacey finds out the many secrets that her mother kept all those years.

The main secret is a possible murder, the unsolved murder or disappearance of Lacey's father Brad. No one seems to know what really happened. Was he really murdered? Or did he just disappear without a trace? His involvement with Amelia's sister Ardra was what caused the disappearance, but no one wants to talk about it.

Lacey gets deeper and deeper involved, befriending a family friend and historian, Ryan, whom she falls in love with. Between the two of them they unravel the secrets that lie at Harper's Ferry.

I enjoyed this story a lot, but had a big problem with all the characters. I didnt' like any of them, except for the outsider Ryan. All the characters were either too uncaring, or too soft (no backbone) and I couldn't sympathiZe with any one, including the main character. The storyline however is what kept me reading, because I really DID want to know who killed Brad!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mysterious Past, March 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Daughter of the Stars (Mass Market Paperback)

A Review by Liz

Lacey Elliot has lived in Charlottesville, Virginia all her life. Her mother is recovering from breast cancer surgery and has never told Lacey anything about her Father. Lacey becomes curious about her family, which had only been, to her knowledge, her mother. Her mother receives and urgent letter that she can't handle so she asks Lacey to read it to her. To help out a mystery her mother isn't strong enough to solve, Lacey goes on a journey to her hometown she never knew of and starts finding interesting surprises about her family. Lacey has to deal throughout the story with being accused, protecting her mom and finding out the truth about what happened to her father.

This story is very hard to keep up with. I really liked the way the author ties in the history of Virginia(the civil war), her relatives of that time, with the present. When Lacey meets her Great-Great-Grandmother, she tells her about all her past relatives that had lived in the house is lives in now. She tells their stories and as the book progresses, their pasts tie into her present. Her great-great-grandmother is very controlling and always seems to only tell Lacey what she wants to and sometimes chooses to leave important information out. Lacey's relationship with her mother also makes it seem like no one wants to let her in on her family's past and history. Her mother says, "I'm only trying to protect you" but doesn't realize how important it is to lacey to know about her family. When Lacey leaves Charlottesville to seek for answers, she learns many things about her mother that she didn't know which made Lacey feel more alone, thinking she doesn't even know her own mother. This story has bits and pieces of the Civil War and provides you with a bit of history along the way with a wonderful mystery. You never want to put the book down because surprising things just keep happening to keep the story alive.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy a good mystery and who would like to know a little about the history of Virginia. It reads pretty easy but it really makes you think.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There is no way to escape your past, April 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Daughter Of The Stars (Hardcover)

This book is about a young woman named Lacey Elliot whose mother Amelia tells her nothing about her father or family any of the time while she is growing up. She is now twenty- nine years old and her mother just had surgery for cancer. They receive a letter in the mail that says it is very urgent that Amelia comes home and it is signed by her Aunt Vinnie. When Lacey reads this she is happy to discover she has other family members. Her mother is too weak to go home; which is Harpers Ferry, Virginia. So Lacey returns and gets to discover somethings she wanted to know and things she didn't. I really enjoyed this novel. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was. The author could have made it a little more challenging though by not making it so obvious. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a little mystery.