Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan

  Under the Wide and Starry Sky: A Novel by Nancy Horan. 2013, Large print edition. Random House. Adult Fiction.


     In this wonderfully descriptive historical fiction novel, Nancy Horan brings to life Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife Fanny van de Grift Osbourne. Fanny's life before meeting Stevenson is full. From the gold fields to San Francisco to Belgium, Fanny has lived large. With three children and a not so upstanding husband, she leaves with the children and nanny to study art in Europe. Nothing turns out as she hoped. Later, in France, she meets the ten years younger than she Stevenson. While he falls in love with Fanny almost instantly, she is much more hesitant about the young writer. Their lives are definitely roller coaster material with his frequent illnesses and her struggles to free herself from a husband, from expectations about women and from the unexpected lives that her children live. A wild ride, this tale will keep readers going and provide much satisfaction in providing details about the many places they lived, how they survived the hard times, and how his family finally accepted Fanny.