Carrie Brown is the author of seven novels, most recently The Stargazer’s Sister and The Last First Day, and a collection of short stories, The House on Belle Isle. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards for her work, and her short stories and essays have appeared in a wide variety of literary journals. She teaches at Sweet Briar College in Virginia alongside her husband, the novelist John Gregory Brown.
The Stargazer’s Sister
Due out in paperback December 13, 2016
A nineteenth-century story of female empowerment before its time based on the extraordinary life of the “great comet huntress” Caroline Herschel, sister of the famous astronomer William Herschel, and a woman struggling to find her own place among the stars. Learn more…
“A haunting evocation — actual and imagined — of the life of Caroline ‘Lina’ Hershel, the younger sister of the eighteenth-century astronomer William Herschel. The tale is deeply satisfying, a testament to Carrie Brown’s seductive voice and her ability to translate Lina’s deep emotional life in all its complexity, both joyful and heartbreaking. I love this book, a wonderful adventure and a resonating example of the difficulties faced by so many women for so very long.”
“Brown’s writing is as luminous as the skies her characters contemplate.”
“Brown creates a spellbinding account of two lives intertwined and bolstered by awe. As Lina stands alone at her telescope, gazing at the stars “scattered like fistfuls of shining grain” across the sky, she feels “the joy of being amazed” by the universe. Readers may feel the same sense of wonder at Brown’s sparkling narrative, about a woman finding her place in the world.”
“Brown brings the true story of the Herschel siblings to life in exquisite details and deftly explores what it means for Caroline to be an intelligent woman far ahead of her time.”
Other Books by Carrie Brown
Events
Words & Music Festival
New Orleans, LA
November 10-13, 2016
Women’s Club of Richmond
Richmond, VA
February 27, 2017
American Association of University Women
Lynchburg, VA
March 15, 2017
Virginia Festival of the Book
Charlottesville, VA
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
CityLit Festival
Baltimore, MD
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Howard County Poetry and Literature Society
Columbia, MD
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Photos throughout this website by John Gregory Brown.