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Astra

Written by: Cedar Bowers
Narrated by: Athena Karkanis
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Publisher's Summary

What if you could see yourself as others see you? Astra is a beguiling debut novel that reveals the different faces of one woman, as seen through the eyes of 10 people over a lifetime. Longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and named a Best Book of the Year by the Globe and Mail, Winnipeg Free Press, and CBC Books.

Born and raised on a remote British Columbia commune, Astra Brine has long struggled to find her way in the world, her life becoming a study of the thin line between dependence and love, need and desire. Over the years, as her path intersects with others - sometimes briefly, but always intensely - she will encounter people who, by turns, want to rescue, control, become, and escape her, revealing difficult yet shining truths about who they are and what they yearn for.

There is the childhood playmate who comes to fear Astra’s unpredictable ways. The stranger who rescues her from homelessness, and then has to wrestle with his own demons. The mother who hires Astra as a live-in nanny even as her own marriage goes off the rails.

The man who takes a leap of faith and marries her.

Even as Astra herself remains the elusive yet compelling axis around which these narratives turn, her story reminds us of the profound impact that a woman can have on those around her, and the power struggles at play in all our relationships, no matter how intimate. A beautifully constructed and revelatory novel, Astra explores what we’re willing to give and receive from others, and how well we ever really know the people we love the most.

©2020 Cedar Bowers (P)2020 McClelland & Stewart
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What the critics say

"A nuanced portrait of a complex character and the many ways in which she touches people’s lives.... Astra is a beautifully written book that challenges us to explore the idea of self and how we can appear to be so many different things to so many people. As her husband, Nick, notes, 'If I mentioned everything outstanding about Astra, we’d be here for hours'.” (Toronto Star)

"Bowers is very good at tracking atmospheric shifts in domestic arrangements, things usually unspoken or misplaced that can only bloom in the wake of emotional risk." (Quill & Quire)

"Cedar Bowers's debut took my breath away. In Astra, Bowers dares to contend with the many selves we all contain — those we conceal, those we perform, those we try to outrun in our search for love, belonging, and home. She holds the human heart like a diamond to the light, exposing its every fault, its every dream, its every pain that both damns and anoints. Bowers writes with the unsentimental clarity and aching wisdom of a young Alice Munro. A fiercely beautiful novel. I could not put it down." (Claudia Dey, author of Heartbreaker and Stunt)

What listeners say about Astra

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Didn't want to hit pause

A beautifully constructed story with raw and vulnerable characters that frame each other in a way that links them through perspective over time and across generations.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved this book

A beautifully told story about one woman from the perspective of the people she is connected to throughout each stage of her life. By the time it was over, I felt she was a real person who I knew and loved. Complex and meaningful. I loved the ending.

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Great perspective

loved it. It was particularly engaging, as a mother myself. The end is amazing.

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Great, couldn’t put it down

Excellent book, the audio version amazing, vivid and engaging. We are a collection of experiences.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Okay

This book felt like multiple character studies some banal, a few fascinating and all revolving around Astra, the character of the title.
Some sections were less interesting and felt longer than they should have been (Brendon, Sativa, Nick) but I was engaged enough to listen all the way through. The ending was quite good and culminated in a family story that I’d imagine is highly relatable to most North American readers.
The reader/performance is good.

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