Short Synopsis
Set in 1845 Nantucket, Amy Brill's beautifully written debut novel details the relationship that develops between a female astronomer and the unusual man who understands her dreams.

Full Synopsis
It is 1845, and Hannah Gardner Price has lived all twenty-four years of her life according to the principles of the Nantucket Quaker community in which she was raised, where simplicity and restraint are valued above all, and a woman's path is expected to lead to marriage and motherhood. But up on the rooftop each night, Hannah pursues a very different—and elusive—goal: discovering a comet and thereby winning a gold medal awarded by the King of Denmark, something unheard of for a woman.

And then she meets Isaac Martin, a young, dark-skinned whaler from the Azores who, like herself, has ambitions beyond his expected station in life. Drawn to his intellectual curiosity and honest manner, Hannah agrees to take Isaac on as a student. But when their shared interest in the stars develops into something deeper, Hannah's standing in the community begins to unravel, challenging her most fundamental beliefs about work and love, and ultimately changing the course of her life forever.

Inspired by the work of Maria Mitchell, the first professional female astronomer in America, The Movement of Stars is a richly drawn portrait of desire and ambition in the face of adversity.

"Narrator Carla Mercer-Meyer does an adequate job voicing the many characters, especially Hannah and Isaac." ---Library Journal Audio Revew

"Carla Mercer-Meyer's narration captures quiet, reserved Hannah. Amy Brill's wonderful historical fiction, inspired by Maria Mitchell, the first woman astronomer to receive the King of Denmark's prize, combines a gentle love story with a woman's sincere quest for knowledge of the heavens." ---AudioFile

"Brill's realistic, poignant conclusion gives her appealing protagonist almost equal portions of happiness and sorrow, just as she has done equal justice throughout to the passions of the mind and the flesh. Probing yet accessible, beautifully written and richly characterized: fine work from a writer to watch." ---Kirkus Starred Review

"Inspired by and incorporating details from the life of Maria Mitchell, America's first female professional astronomer, Brill's debut raises thought-provoking questions on the limitations to achievement societies impose based on race, gender, or divergent beliefs." ---Library Journal

"Amy Brill has fashioned a quiet hero who charts her own course. . . . Nineteenth-century Nantucket feels wholly vivid in this novel, and the love story at its heart blazes with real feeling and intensity." ---Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

Kirkus Review