Wandering Stars

Wandering Stars is Tommy Orange's follow-up to his acclaimed debut, There There, a Pulitzer finalist in 2019.

Orange's new novel is equal parts sequel and prequel, rewinding to the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre as its starting line, and moving chronologically through generations until catching up with Orvil Red Feather and his family in the aftermath of the Oakland Pow Wow that was the climax of There There.

As the book travels time with its characters, Orange explores themes carried over from its predecessor, namely the Native experience, grappling with identity and meaning of ones heritage in a world that wasn't built by or for people of color. The bullets imbedded in the bodies of both Jude Star and Orvil are a moving metaphor for the inextricable, damaging intrusion of white Eurocentric values and practices into the collective Native experience. This novel is again set largely in Oakland, although the other city by the bay takes a smaller role than in the previous work, Orange still takes care to illuminate the “there” that is “there”. Addiction becomes the major theme in Wandering Stars, the myriad expressions of addiction and its tentacles that spread across the specific geography of Oakland and into the characters lives.

Stylistically, Orange weaves in and out of first, second, and third person points of view. He again demonstrates true mastery of the description of his characters interior lives. His skill in this method is unsurpassed. Entire pages fly by without any real dialogue or events, just beautiful and painful insights into the inner workings of the character's mind and hearts. With that in mind, it must be noted that where Orange's interior descriptions seamlessly soar, chapters based on dialogue tend to dip, conversations clunky in ways that contrast unfavorably with the bulk of the novel.

Wandering Stars closes unevenly, the penultimate chapter from Orvil feeling a bit too on-the-nose, more like a museum exhibit on the oppressive practices of the American government toward its indigenous populations than an artistic exploration of that oppression. But Orange triumphs in the final chapter, an epistolary, metaphysical treatise on self discovery, family, and love that tips the scales and elevates this work from good to great.

Wandering Stars is a rewarding, heartbreaking novel which has this reader already anticipating what Orange will gift us with next.

“Healing is holy and if you have the chance to not have to carry something alone, with people you love, it should be honored”