3 out of 4 stars
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At one point or another, all of us have likely been operating from a place of dysfunction. Perhaps it was a tragic situation, a debilitating illness, or something else entirely out of our control. In Kathleen Martin’s novel, The Stars are Made of Tears, we meet three women in various stages of dysfunction, all needing something more, but none are sure how to get it. I rated this book 3 out of 4 stars.
From the outsider’s perspective, young mother Dell has the perfect life. A handsome and adoring husband, a chubby-cheeked baby boy, a nice car, and a brick house in the suburbs. But just beneath the surface of this idyllic scene, Dell struggles with severe post-partum depression and wrestles with issues stemming from her father’s abandonment and subsequent harsh treatment by her mother. Dell wants so badly to be a good wife and mother and be grateful for this life she honestly doesn’t feel she deserves, but the depression and accompanying demons keep pulling her into very dark places.
Conversely, Monica knows she’s pretty messed up and doesn’t think she can ever get any better, and doesn’t really want to try either. After burying her childhood heartbreaks by diligently working for years in the insurance industry, some forced time off gives her unwelcome quiet and space to dig up the bones from her past. She’s not sure if she’s going certifiably insane or actually being visited by the ghost of her long-deceased younger sister, but she just knows she wants the pain to stop.
The third character, Gladys, is quite literally a child locked in the body of an old woman. Her emotional and social growth and development stopped at age 4 due to her own mother’s extreme negligence. Gladys has never known anything outside of the walls of the apartment she shares with her mother. When her living situation changes drastically, Gladys learns how to survive on the streets. She knows she’s different from the other people she sees out there, she’s just not sure how, and has no idea what to do about it.
When these three unique and very fragile women’s lives intersect in a very unexpected way, we see just how deep the hurt goes, how raw the pain feels, and maybe, just maybe, how the healing can start to happen.
Above all, The Stars are Made of Tears is a careful, well-written character study of the three central women. Their mental health issues and histories have obviously been well-researched and Kathleen Martin does an excellent job of showing various mental illnesses in their rawest and truest form. The scenes where characters are having breakdowns are superbly written and feel very accurate and honest. Unfortunately I was disappointed with the rushed and lackluster ending. I feel the last three pages lacked the care and diligence shown throughout the rest of the book. I almost feel short-changed that after knowing these three women so well, I only get a glazed-over version of what ends up happening to them.
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The Stars Are Made Of Tears
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