Andrea Molloy's review from www.nzbooklovers.co.nz "Gina Butson’s debut novel is captivating and will keep you turning the pages! It’s full of intrigue, mystery and emotional depth.
Clare Travaglia's review from www.ketebooks.co.nz "The novel explores the way people come and go from our lives, the transitory nature and enduring impressions of relationships, but also of place. What it means to leave, return, stay, and what defines ‘home’..."
A hypnotic novel about love, guilt and forgiveness. If you loved Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts by Josie Shapiro, you will adore The Stars Are a Million Glittering Worlds.
Thea, a young woman crushed by guilt, flees to Central America to escape her life in New Zealand.
In Guatemala, she meets the charismatic Chris and his partner, Sarah, and the three of them form a tight bond. While the rest of the world is caught in the grip of the global financial crisis, the three friends find a false reality in the backpacker party town of San Pedro. Surrounded by the dark volcanic beauty of the Guatemalan highlands, Thea starts to come to terms with her past. But everything changes when a tragedy occurs.
Knowing she has to leave Central America, but not ready to return home, Thea settles in Tasmania and into a new relationship. Bonded by grief, she and her partner make a life for themselves in Hobart. But years later, when tragedy strikes again, all Thea's old grief and guilt - together with unanswered questions - come to the surface.
Against the backdrop of the pandemic and lockdowns, Thea begins to question the trust she has in her partner. She realises that if she wants to know the truth, she will need to come clean about her past.
Gina Butson has worked as a lawyer and as an advisor in the public sector. She completed her MA in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) in 2023, and her short fiction has been published in Newsroom, Salient and Turbine / Kapohau. Gina won the Salient Creative Writing competition and was Highly Commended in the Sargeson Prize in 2024. She has been awarded a 2026 residency at the Robert Lord Writers Cottage.
Paperback, 320 pages
H: 234mm W: 153mm
Weight: 392 grams