Under the Wide and Starry Sky is the much-anticipated second novel from Nancy Horan, the author of Loving Frank, the beloved New York Times bestseller about Frank Lloyd Wright. This new work tells the incredible story of the passionate, turbulent relationship between Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and his wild-tempered American wife, Fanny. Stevenson wrote several classics such as Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
In her masterful new novel, Horan again recreates a love story that is as unique and overwhelmingly powerful. The couple meet in rural France in 1875, when Fanny, having run away from her philandering husband back in California, takes refuge there with her children. Stevenson too is escaping from his life, running from family pressure to become a lawyer. And so begins a turbulent love affair that will last two decades and span the world.
Click for Nancy Horan’s 2014 Author Event Schedule.
Advance praise for Under the Wide and Starry Sky
“Horan’s spectacular second novel has been worth the wait. Brimming with the same artistic verve that drives her complicated protagonists, it follows the loving, tumultuous partnership of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and his Indiana-born wife, Fanny Osbourne…. Equally adventurous and colorful, Louis and Fanny could each command the story singlehandedly. Together, they are riveting and insightfully envisioned, including through moving depiction of how their relationship transforms over time…. An exhilarating epic about a free-spirited couple who traveled the world yet found home only in one another.”—Booklist (starred review)
“This beautifully written novel, neatly balanced between its two protagonists, makes them come alive with grace, humor, and understanding. Horan’s empathy for both Louis and Fanny allows her to capture their life together with all the complexity and nuance of a real-life relationship.”—Publishers Weekly
“Fanny and Louis are wild-hearted seekers, and Nancy Horan traces their incredible journey fearlessly, plunging us through decades, far-flung continents, and chilling brushes with death. Ambitious and often breathtaking, this sweeping story spills over with spirited, uncompromising life.“—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife
“Fans of Loving Frank will adore this authentic, richly detailed, and utterly captivating new novel from Nancy Horan. Under the Wide and Starry Sky is a globe-spanning literary wonder-the perfect book for those who read fiction in search of the truth.”—Jamie Ford, author of Songs of Willow Frost
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