"This is Nobel-quality writing, an international author with a mature style telling a story to the peak of his capacity. The English language needs more of it."-The Telegraph

From the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature, Wandering Star is the story of two young women, one uprooted by the Holocaust and the other by the founding of the state of Israel. Bearing witness to the boundless strength of the spirit, and based on his own experience as a child in World War II, J.M.G. Le Clezio chronicles the saga of a young girl, Esther, who, in a small mountain village north of Nice occupied by Italian forces, learns what it means to be Jewish in wartime Europe. A quiet young teenager, she suffers the loss of her beloved father and, with her mother, is forced to flee advancing German troops.

At war's end, Esther and her mother make an arduous journey to Jerusalem, where their path crosses with a group of displaced refugees, including Nejma, a Palestinian girl whose story of life in the camps balances Esther's own tale of suffering and survival. Esther and Nejma never meet again, but in their respective exiles, they are forever haunted by the memory of one another. Wandering Star is a powerful coming-of-age story and, as Le Figaro notes, truly "a luminous lesson in humanity."

About the Author

J.M.G. Le Clezio is a distinguished French author with over thirty novels, essays, and story collections to his credit. He is the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Reviews
"...it is a relief to come across Wandering Star (Curbstone, GBP 8.99), a novel written in 1992... This is Nobel-quality writing, an international author with a mature style retelling a story to the peak of his capacity. The English language needs more of it." - Daily Telegraph "One of the most powerful qualities of the novel is the sense Le Clezio creates of the human connection to place and the anguish of exile and dispossession... In chronicling the parallel suffering of Jews and Arabs, Le Clezio gives us a sadly topical retelling of what he calls elsewhere 'the greatest, most ancient of all quests: of a habitat.'" The Observer "No one who reads this novel can doubt his stature and importance as a writer." The Times Literary Supplement "one of the most powerful qualities of the novel is the sense Le Clezio creates of the human connection to place and the anguish of exile and dispossession... In chronicling the parallel suffering of Jews and Arabs, Le Clezio gives us a sadly topical retelling of what he calls elsewhere 'the greatest, most ancient of all quests: of a habitat.'" - Observer "Wandering Star is a luminous lesson in humanity amid the ruins of civilization and intelligence." - Le Figaro "Wandering Star can unquestionably be ranked among the very great novels. This is true not only because of the precision and evocative power of the writing, the subtlety and balance of the construction, the magnitude and loftiness of the subject, but also because of the stature and the trajectory of the protagonist, Esther Greve, who survives the Holocaust only to be confronted in the land of her dreams with another tragedy."-L' Humanite "This is a story about people and what happens to them in war and exile: human misery and happy moments; the potential for peace and the effects of war; the forces of nature both beneficial and disastrous. This is a marvellous piece of literature."- Jewish Book World "Those unfamiliar with Mr. Le Clezio and his work should know that he is considered that rare beast by the French: an artist and a best-selling author." --- Dallas Morning News "Le Clezio...seeks the signs of human misery and of potential peace at the very heart of life, in a confrontation with time and the elements; with the sun and the earth, with birth and death, with the mystery of origins and the enigma of the future, with the necessity of both remembering and forgetting, without which nothing can be healed." --- Le Mondi "The Beauty of Le Clezio's language belies the horror of his subject...We can only hope that Esther and Nejima might someday walk out of these pages, meet once more and plant and nourish the garden that others battle so feverishly to destroy." --- Bloomsbury Review"



Book Information
ISBN 9781931896566
Author J.M.G. Le Clezio
Format Paperback
Page Count 328
Imprint Curbstone Press,U.S.
Publisher Curbstone Press,U.S.
Weight(grams) 440g