Body of Stars

- Blurb -

' We have a new The Handmaid' s Tale. . . an exciting new literary voice with a dazzling imagination' EMMA KENNEDY' Compelling, menacing and ultimately uplifting, I fell headlong into the world of Body of Stars' SARAH WARD' Rapturously written and wildly original, Laura Maylene Walter' s debut novel maps the dreams and nightmares of girlhood' EMILYY SCHULTZ' What a gift Laura Maylene Walter has given us in Body of Stars' ANNE VALENTENo future, dear reader, can break a woman on its ownA bold and dazzling exploration of fate and female agency in a world where women own the future but not their own bodies. Like every woman, Celeste Morton holds a map of the future in her skin, every mole and freckle a clue to unlocking what will come to pass. With puberty comes the changeling period - when her final marks will appear and her future is decided. The possibilities are tantalising enough for Celeste' s excitement to outweigh her fear. Changelings are sought after commodities and abduction is rife as men seek to possess these futures for themselves. Celeste' s marks have always been closely entwined with her brother, Miles. Her skin holds a future only he, as a gifted interpreter, can read and he has always considered his sister his practice ground. But when Celeste' s marks change she learns a devastating secret about her brother' s future that she must keep to herself - and Miles is keeping a secret of his own. When the lies of brother and sister collide, Celeste determines to create a future that is truly her own. Body of Stars is an urgent read about what happens when women are objectified and violently stripped of choice - and what happens when they fight back. ' Part allegory, part warning, and part celebration of the female body, this is a thrilling and flawlessly crafted debut about the potential women have to hold magic, make magic, and change the course of history with the underestimated weapons of intelligence and love. ' Courtney Maum, , author of Touch and Costalegre' Body of Stars sparks with tenderness and beauty, and Walter' s writing on the female body is genuine art. A thought-provoking exploration of fate and forced binaries, this is a book that lingers. ' Erika Swyler, author of Light from Other Stars and The Book of Speculation' Laura Maylene Walter' s Body of Stars will be enjoyed as a novel that employs the fantastic to inventively explore both the victimization and the power of women in a world very much like our own, but its central pleasure and achievement may be its depiction of a complicated and extraordinarily moving sibling relationship. In Walter' s generous and capable hands, M