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Helen Sandler reviews
Star-Shot
by Mary-Ann Constantine

Described as ‘part fable, part mystery’, this is a novel that raises questions from the start. Intrigued questions, such as, ‘Is this woman in love with a building?’ And bemused ones, such as, ‘Which of the half-dozen narrative voices is this now?’

The book is arranged in numbered sections of two or three pages, recalling both the author’s previous experience in writing short stories and the fragmented ways in which people now read. It opens with Myra, who is, indeed, in love with a building – Cardiff’s National Museum. It continues with Theo, arriving at the museum with a gelatinous specimen that may be the ‘star-shot’ of the title; then Dan, taking his little son out for a walk in his pushchair, past ‘cats and blossom and postmen’. Along with university researcher Luke and his professor, these are most of our main characters, although it takes a little while to piece the cast list together from the clues on offer.

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