The Sight of the Stars

I was bored with this book, kept wondering what was the point of the story and was glad when it finally ended. The other Belva Plain books I've read were much better.

I picked up this book and read it in two day. It was so refreshing to read this well written story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I thought this was a very good book but it reminded me of a soap opera with the secrets, the blackmail, the strange family relationships and the adultery. The main character, Adam Arnring, leaves his father's grocery store business to go west into business at a small department store which he grew into a major business. Then he had some romance with the store's adopted daughter and a fling with a dressmaker. It definitely held my interest and has a surprise ending. The theme seemed to be that we never really know people like we think we do. Karen Arlettaz Zemek, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry"

I read all the reviews and was astounded that no one seemed to see what Belva Plain was doing with this little book at all. I haven't read "Evergreen" but it hardly seems fair to knock Sight of the Stars for not being another book that you loved. I was about 3/4 of the way through the book on a plane flight from Paris to the US when I realized what the author's theme was and how skillfully she had woven her revelation of it through the lives of the Amring family members. Readers who were dissapointed with the "boring" plot and lack of a deep dark secret in brother Leo's life entirely missed the point. Or rather I should say, they demonstrate the point; which is, that it is all too easy for us poor humans to misjudge one another and miss the truth of the lives of the people we interact with. Adam makes a preliminary mistake in his assessment of every important character he deals with. His life teaches him how he was wrong and he grows wiser and more humble until in the end, just before he dies, he is willing to admit that perhaps he was wrong about Leo too. Perhaps he should forgive his brother and find him. Adam discovers this too late for a reconcilliation but the reader is allowed to see the "truth" about Leo. It is brillantly done, for the reader is brought to realize that perhaps they too had been wrong about Leo, imagining all sorts of dark perverted things about him when in fact his books were simply his refuge and the way he taught himself foreign languages etc. Those who were dissapointed that there was not some horridly wicked revelation about Leo in the end REALLY missed the point. The book is not meant to be one of those sagas that leaves you feeling as if you were forever entertwined with characters in them who had been brillantly brought to life. Rather, reading it is like solving an intellectual puzzle of masks and characters and motives revealed so that the reader turns from that puzzle instructed and more humble about the characters that inhabit his own real life and asks himself, "Do I know these people as they truly are?" In the end the puzzle for me became more than just intellectual and became profoundly moving, even spiritual. I loved this book for the way it stretched my mind and heart.

I love all Belva Plain novel's. I enjoyed reading it. And always enjoy reading her books. This book is worth reading.

Adam Amring longs for adventure instead of working in the faily grocery store. Dressed in a new suit and with $150.00 in his pocket, Adam bordes a train traveling west. Thus begins a tale that encompasses several generations. "The Sight of the Stars" is pure Belva Plain at her very best. Readers become a part of the plot as they cheer for Adam and his quest for: success in business and success with EMMA, the love of his life. A captive read from page one. Beverly J Scott author of RIGHTEOUS REVENGE, RUTH FEVER, and JENA'S CHOICE.