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Laura Pritchett

Stars Go Blue: A Novel Hardcover – June 10, 2014

by Laura Pritchett (Author)

4.3 192 ratings

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Laura Pritchett is an award-winning author who has quickly become one of the west’s defining literary voices. We first met hardscrabble ranchers Renny and Ben Cross in Laura’s debut collection, and now in Stars Go Blue, they are estranged, elderly spouses living on opposite ends of their sprawling ranch, faced with the particular decline of a fading farm and Ben’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He is just on the cusp of dementia, able to recognize he is sick but unable to do anything about it the notes he leaves in his pockets and around the house to remind him of himself, his family, and his responsibilities are no longer as helpful as they used to be. Watching his estranged wife forced into care-taking and brought to her breaking point, Ben decides to leave his life with whatever dignity and grace remains.

As Ben makes his decision, a new horrible truth comes to light: Ray, the abusive husband of their late daughter is being released from prison early. This opens old wounds in Ben, his wife, his surviving daughter, and four grandchildren. Branded with a need for justice, Ben must act before his mind leaves him, and sets off during a brutal snowstorm to confront the man who murdered his daughter. Renny, realizing he is missing, sets off to either stop or witness her husband’s act of vengeance.

Stars Go Blue is a triumphant novel of the American family, buffered by the workings of a ranch and the music offered by the landscape and animal life upon it.

Print length

208 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Counterpoint
Publication date

June 10, 2014
Dimensions

6.24 x 0.72 x 9.26 inches
ISBN-10

1619023083
ISBN-13

978-1619023086
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Readers will remember Renny and Ben Cross from Pritchett’s stellar first collection of linked stories, Hell’s Bottom, Colorado (2001). Life in the meantime has not been kind to the salt-of-the-earth, hard-working couple. Their daughter, Rachel, was murdered before their very eyes a few years back by her meth-head husband, Ray. Now Ben has rapidly progressing dementia, and Renny is left to tend to the ranch and her husband single-handedly. When the Crosses learn that Ray has been released from prison in nearby Greeley, Ben leaves in the midst of a snowstorm to confront the man who ruined his family, armed with enough weapons to ensure his misery will end. When Renny discovers Ben is gone, she takes off in what is now a full-blown blizzard, uncertain that she will find Ben in time. There is more than just the bleak and unforgiving setting of the Rocky Mountain foothills to recommend Pritchett to fans of Kent Haruf’s similarly placed novels. Strength of character and simplicity of language comparably complement a rich underpinning of savagery and sadness as Pritchett sensitively navigates the end of a life and sublimely realizes its enduring legacy. --Carol Haggas

Review

"In this haunting tale. . .the weather plays a supporting character, and its unpredictability, constantly switching from placid to punishing, mirrors the tenderness and the tumult in the couple's marriage. Pritchett's prose is so beautifully crafted that she manages to make sadness beautiful and tragedy compelling."—Real Simple

"There is more than just the bleak and unforgiving setting of the Rocky Mountain foothills to recommend Pritchett to fans of Kent Haruf's similarly placed novels. Strength of character and simplicity of language comparably complement a rich underpinning of savagery and sadness as Pritchett sensitively navigates the end of a life and sublimely realizes its enduring legacy."—Booklist, Starred Review

"Pritchett delivers a brilliant novel, filled with heartache and humor, that will strike a chord with many readers. A heart–wrenching exploration of a family in crisis."—Library Journal, Starred Review

""Pritchett's prose is luminous and sparse, her dialogue revealing and muscular. . . She writes to understand, and, in doing so, invites the reader to explore the boundaries of their own relationships and the decisions they have made, out of fear, out of anger, or out of love. It's an invitation you should accept." —The Coloradoan

"Pritchett has a remarkable talent for laying down the harshness of ranch — and human — life without letting the narrative itself descend into bitterness, and the novel ends not on the kind of saccharine note one might expect, but survival and acceptance. Her clean prose draws the reader into painfully real evocations of all who suffer, even as she lets the beauty of the world blossom."
—Boulder Daily Camera

"This is a short, but excellent, novel about the Cross's, an American ranching family.... The characters in Stars Go Blue are brave despite their flaws, and this book delivers a very powerful message about families." —Alberni Valley Times

"Laura Pritchett's is a fine new voice, fully her own, with wise sensibilities. The deep territory mapped here in the triangular boundary between regret and endurance and hope is well illuminated and finely wrought."
—Rick Bass, author of The Stars, the Sky, the Wilderness

"Stars Go Blue manages to be both warm–hearted and violent at once—
a complex deeply–imagined family tale which finds unexpected gifts at its conclusion. Laura Pritchett is a writer who knows country life on the Rocky Mountain front range thoroughly and she conveys this physical world expertly, beautifully out of her long experience. Within this specific place her clear depiction of character and suspenseful delivery of story compel us to the last exact word." —Kent Haruf, author of Plainsong and Eventide

"In prose as bright as mountain air we meet a retired rancher whose memory is failing and his estranged, hard–bitten wife, as each attempts to prepare for the release from prison of the stranger who murdered their daughter. Their narratives are as gripping as they are intelligent, as wise as they are funny, as unsentimental as they are tender. What results is proof positive that Pritchett is one of Colorado's best–kept literary secrets, a superb writer."
—Laura Hendrie, author of Stygo

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Counterpoint (June 10, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1619023083
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1619023086
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.24 x 0.72 x 9.26 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,940,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #11,361 in Small Town & Rural Fiction (Books)
- #28,087 in Westerns (Books)
- #111,781 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 192 ratings

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Laura Pritchett
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Laura Pritchett
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Laura Pritchett's newest book, Making Friends with Death: A Guide to Your Impending Last Breath, has just been released by VIVA Editions, 2017 -- more at www.makingfriendswithdeath.com.
She's also the author of five literary novels: The Blue Hour (Counterpoint, 2017), Red Lightning (Counterpoint, 2015) Stars Go Blue (Counterpoint, 2014), Sky Bridge (Milkweed Editions, 2009), and Hell's Bottom, Colorado (Milkweed Editions, 2001) - more at www.laurapritchett.com.
Awards for these novels include the PEN USA Award, the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, the WILLA Award, the High Plains Book Award for Fiction, the Colorado Book Award, and others.
She is also the author/editor of four books of nonfiction: Great Colorado Bear Stories, Pulse of the River, Home Land, and Going Green: True Tales from Gleaners, Scavengers, and Dumpster Divers.
Pritchett has also published over 200 essays and short stories in numerous magazines, including The New York Times Modern Love, The Sun, O (Oprah’s) Magazine, Orion, High Country News, Writers on the Range, Salon, The Normal School, High Desert Journal, OnEarth, Natural Resources Journal, 5280 (Denver's Magazine), The Pinch, and others. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart on several occasions. She is the recipient of several residencies, including Ucross (Wyoming), Earthskin (New Zealand), and Playa (Oregon), and has been recognized by several organizations for environmental stewardship.
She holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University. When not writing or teaching, she can generally be found outside in Colorado’s mountains.
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

192 global ratings

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A novel of suspense, but so much more

Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2014

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This was an incredibly powerful book about Alzheimer's, and I wouldn't recommend reading it without a box of tissues nearby. The characterization is astounding, as is the sense of place. The main character, Ben, is a rancher in Colorado whose mind is slowly deteriorating. He is aware of the disease, the name of which he cannot remember. He has good days and bad days, remembering more or less, but one thing he does remember. His daughter was shot to death by her drug-addled husband before his eyes, and he has a plan for vengeance.

The language of the book, fractured as it sometimes is, seems to capture the experience of the disease. Courage, what it means and how to have it in the face of fear, is an overriding theme. Courage in living a life of hardship, courage in facing one's death, courage in relationships, courage to do the right thing when the wrong thing is so much easier – this is all thought about but not discussed by Ben and his wife Renny. Ben can often think with much more clarity and complexity than he can speak, and Pitchett shows us how this feels.

As the book opens, Ray, the daughter's murderer, is being released from prison. Ben, with the help of notes he has written himself over time, has amassed the materials and the courage that he believes he needs to exact revenge. He has reluctant support from Renny and his quiet and quirky granddaughter, Jess.

Pritchett's writing is beautiful, almost poetic, in a spare way. Ben's affliction keeps the language from flying off the page in loops of fancy. Rather, the poetry is more like a haiku, capturing the essence of ideas in only a few words. Ben loves the land, and especially the water, of Hell's Bottom, Colorado, and Pritchett lets him share that love. At the same time, the author provides the reader with a compelling plot full of suspense as Ben heads off into a blizzard to accomplish his act of courage, and Renny garners her own courage to try to stop him.

STARS GO BLUE is a novel of suspense, but it is so much more.

This review first appeared at www.reviewingtheevidence.com.

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Kindle Customer

A perfectly flawed book.

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2014

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This book commits nearly every crime of my private litany of literary mishaps. It is in fact innocent of bad writing; the writing is lovely. But it has a lot pathos, overused metaphor, shameless use of human fear, and a pretty outlandish resolution of conflict. Ben is a man who has lost his daughter to murder, his wife to grief and now his mind to Alzheimer's. The book follows him and his very human family in their struggle to "use death as your advisor. You live well, you die well." Renny, his wife, has taken to referring to the "catastrophe of life" from Zorba the Greek.

Pritchett has taken a number of human dilemmas and voiced them in a comforting and clear way. Now I am ornery so this usually annoys me out of my skin if they are placed too preciously. I think that this book has a clear core of intent that saves it from that particular crime. I especially like the references to certain thoughts that must be spoken at last before they begin to take the mind with them. The characters are soothing in their imperfections. The portrayal of the grief of the early Alzheimer patient seems likely. I really liked the book, and sometimes that happens.

11 people found this helpful

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BC

Do Not Miss This One

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

It is difficult for me to try to add anything more than what the professional reviewers and the readers' reviews expressed. Everything I can think of has already been said perfectly. This is a beautiful story, even with its sad subjects (i.e. dementia, murder). Pritchett is a wonderful storyteller. I was completely drawn into all characters and everything that took place. I spent way too many hours after my bedtime wanting to discover what would happen next. I love that each 'chapter' is brief. I love the viewpoints of the two main characters. And oh the brilliant last part of the story where another whole new viewpoint from a third character is shared. I am always intrigued by the titles of some of the novels I select, i.e. how did the author come up with it, what does it mean? Usually somewhere along the way you glean the answer - this story is no exception, it just happens to come along toward the very end. And when it does, it's breathtaking. Don't miss this story.

3 people found this helpful

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Lauren Persons

Is it a good summer read

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2014

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This is a tough novel to rate. If digging under the skin and reopening old wounds are criteria for a successful writing, Pritchett hits her mark. She truly knows or has lived with Alzheimer's disease as Ben, the main character, is hauntingly believable. The reader struggles with Ben as he tries to find words his once nimble mind knew. The havoc caused by this unrelenting condition to an entire family is well drawn. Is it a good summer read? Yes and no. A couple days of reading on the beach is all it will take, but bring an umbrella because it is hard to put down. Is it light and breezy? Not in the least, but certainly worth reading.

One person found this helpful

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Carl D.

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Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2017

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I felt like a friend of the Cross family as they struggled with the catastrophes of Alzheimer's and the murder of their daughter. While witnessing their struggles was sad, the story wasn't overly depressing or difficult to read for me. While most reviewers have focused on the Alzheimer's part of the story, the attention given to the consequences of murder was more impactful for me. Sadly, I have seen what this is like and the detail and feelings portrayed in the book are very accurate. So are the details of the Northern Colorado landscape and winter storms as anyone who has driven the roads between Laporte and Greeley can tell you.

One person found this helpful

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