Why we chose Richard Wagamese’s Starlight

My dad and I previously read Wagamese’s novel Medicine Walk for a Family Reads discussion back in 2016. One day, Starlight came up while we were chatting (I think he had just placed it on hold). I pointed out that Starlight is a follow up to Medicine Walk. I still hadn’t read Starlight, so we decided to read it together.

Frank Starlight has long settled into a quiet life working his remote farm, but his contemplative existence comes to an abrupt end with the arrival of Emmy, who has committed a desperate act so she and her child can escape a harrowing life of violence. Starlight takes in Emmy and her daughter to help them get back on their feet, and this accidental family eventually grows into a real one. But Emmy’s abusive ex isn’t content to just let her go. He wants revenge and is determined to hunt her down. Starlight was unfinished at the time of Richard Wagamese’s death, yet every page radiates with his masterful storytelling, intense humanism, and insights that are as hard-earned as they are beautiful. With astonishing scenes set in the rugged backcountry of the B.C. Interior, and characters whose scars cut deep even as their journey toward healing and forgiveness lifts us, Starlight is a last gift to readers from a writer who believed in the power of stories to save us.

Our Discussion

Medicine Walk

We both give this book ★★★★★ , which we’ve never done before! Before we began discussing Starlight, we considered what we remembered about Medicine Walk (which, by the way, was our highest rated Family Reads book prior to Starlight). Both of us had to look back at our previous Family Reads to recall the plot. Dad had forgotten the two books were related until I mentioned that. I had forgotten that Medicine Walk was mostly Frank’s dad’s story. I didn’t remember much about Frank himself. Since we read Medicine Walk, we each independently read Wagamese’s autobiographical One Native Life (I’d also read Indian Horse) so that blurred the stories for us as well.

Writing Style

Dad asked why I rated this book five stars. I don’t know if I was saying this just because I knew Starlight is Wagamese’s final novel, but I really felt that his writing came to a peak here. I found the prose so smooth, easy to read, with a nice rhythm and so much beautiful imagery. There is a lot of tension in the characters, from their past experiences, but it felt like a peaceful and calm story – it was so enjoyable to read. I attended a tribute to Wagamese about a month after Starlight was published, where a number of Indigenous writers who knew him spoke about him. I felt I gained a better sense of what kind of person he was. I think to write like he did, you have to be incredibly observant and thoughtful. Dad noted a passage that felt like science fiction – when Frank is running with the wolves, it reads like a surreal experience. How do you explain an experience like that, down to the different ways Frank moves? Dad agreed the descriptive passages were well done. Readers can imagine what it’s like, even if they’ve never experienced anything remotely like what Frank is going through. The surreal experience Dad describes is something that comes up throughout the book – not exactly escaping realness, but consciously moving into a different head space.

The four of them stepped closer to the edge and looked out across the cuts of scarp and ridge that pushed upward into crest and peaks helmeted with snow. In that hard and fulgent light, the land appeared to divide itself into planes and angles that called attention to its individual parts so that the effect of taking it all in with one sweeping gaze was dazzling.

Pg. 126

After Dad had started reading the book but before I had, he mentioned that Wagamese uses a lot of unique words. Once Dad mentioned that, I kept an eye out for them. In the passage quoted above, fulgent stood out me. I almost looked it up, but I was enjoying reading so much that I didn’t want to stop and take myself out of the scene. (Dad pointed out most of the time you look it up and realize you could tell the meaning from the context anyway).

An Unfinished Ending

We spent a lot of time discussing the conclusion of Starlight, which is unique to this book given the context in which it was published. Wagamese sadly passed away while working on this novel, leaving it nearly but not quite finished. The novel as Wagamese had so far completed it concludes with a two sentence chapter just prior to what would have been the final climax. The last sentence of the final complete chapter is “Neither of them saw the two hulking men following slowly behind them.” When I read that, I thought “Ohhhhh noooooo”, turned the page, and then nearly threw the book when I saw there were only two more sentences left. Dad had a similar reaction. But the book doesn’t just drop off there.

Two thoughtful notes from the publisher explain Wagamese’s plan for the end of the book, as well as sharing a related piece of his writing. So you’re not left with a horrible cliffhanger; you learn what would have happened. There are many different ways unfinished writing can be approached after the author’s death (this coming from someone whose favourite author is Tolkien, a man who left a plethora of unfinished writing that has since been shared in various ways). The publisher handled Starlight respectfully, while giving readers a sense of closure. Dad and I thought the personal essay at the end was a particularly nice addition, especially for those who don’t know much about Wagamese, such as the fact that he, like Frank, wasn’t raised with his biological family (albeit due to the Sixties Scoop).

Regarding the content of the conclusion: Dad wondered many times throughout the book if Cadotte (Emmy’s violent ex who is tracking her down) and his buddy Anderson would actually catch up to Frank and co. We both noted Anderson’s growing concerns about Cadotte’s intentions. I thought that if everything came to a head, Anderson might mess up Cadotte’s plans somehow. But that wasn’t in Wagamese’s plan. I liked the ending as Wagamese planned it, and it’s really too bad that he wasn’t able to write that ending.

A Touch of Humour

One last comment: While the story contains a lot of reflection and thoughtfulness and some heavier moments, there are funnier scenes that don’t feel out of place. We appreciated the sarcastic dry banter that Frank’s buddy Eugene brought to the narrative (though he’s not just comic relief – we like how he chose to keep on working with Frank and how he supported Frank and Emmy.)

Final Thoughts

We both read this book in the span of a few days and discussed it immediately after – another Family Reads record. (If only it hadn’t taken me a month to write this post, haha…) Have you read anything by Richard Wagamese? If you’ve read Starlight, what did you think of how the publisher approached its unfinished state?