Bright Objects, Ruby Todd
Bright Objects, Ruby Todd
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Bright Objects

Author: Ruby Todd

Narrator: Casey Withoos

Unabridged: 10 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/16/2024


Synopsis

One of The New York Times 10 Best Thrillers of the Year | One of The New Yorker's and Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of the Year

A “luminous, unusual, unexpected” (The New York Times) debut novel blending mystery, psychological suspense, astronomy, and romance, in which a young widow faces the life-altering arrival of a rare comet, perfect for fans of Emma Cline’s The Girls and Ottessa Moshfegh’s Death in Her Hands.

Sylvia Knight is losing hope that the person who killed her husband will ever face justice. Since the night of the hit-and-run, her world has been shrouded in hazy darkness—until she meets Theo St. John, the discoverer of a rare comet soon to be visible to the naked eye.

As the comet begins to brighten, Sylvia wonders what the apparition might signify. She is soon drawn into the orbit of local mystic Joseph Evans, who believes the comet’s arrival is nothing short of a divine message. Finding herself caught between two conflicting perspectives of this celestial phenomenon, she struggles to define for herself where the reality lies. As the comet grows in the sky, her town slowly descends further and further into a fervor over its impending apex, and Sylvia’s quest to uncover her husband’s killer will push her and those around her to the furthest reaches of their very lives.

A “smart, propulsively readable” (Los Angeles Times) debut about the search for meaning in a bewildering world, the loyalty of love, and the dangerous lengths people go to in pursuit of obsession, Bright Objects is a luminous, masterfully crafted literary thriller.

About Ruby Todd

Ruby Todd is a Melbourne-based writer with a PhD in writing and literature. She is the recipient of the 2019 Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest Award for Fiction and the inaugural 2020 Furphy Literary Award, among others. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Crazyhorse, Overland, and elsewhere. Her debut novel, Bright Objects, was shortlisted for the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award. She is a 2023 Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellow.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Janelle on May 13, 2024

Sylvia, the narrator, tells the story of her life between two deaths that coincide with the discovery of a comet and then its appearance when it approaches earth. Her first death was in a car accident where her husband was killed,and she is revived. So the novel is about coming to terms with grief a......more

Goodreads review by Ann on March 09, 2024

A thoroughly enjoyable novel about the journey through life. Read it and weep.......more

Goodreads review by Chrissie on July 28, 2024

Bright Objects follows Sylvia Knight, a young widow on a uniquely believable journey. Two years after her husband's unresolved hit-and-run death, Sylvia’s grief coincides with the arrival of a rare comet. Intrigued by the comet’s timing, she meets Theo St. John, its discoverer, and is drawn into the......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie (aka WW) on January 16, 2024

(4.5 stars) This book was promoted as appropriate for fans of Emma Cline’s The Girls and Ottessa Moshfegh’s Death in Her Hands. I’ve read and liked both of these, so I quick-requested Bright Objects from NetGalley. What I found was that, unlike the two books for which it is billed as similar, in my......more

Goodreads review by Chris on April 02, 2024

A story of grief, new beginnings, betrayal set with a back drop of an asteroid's journey past the earth. I really enjoyed this, and did not see the ending coming. I just reviewed Bright Objects by Ruby Todd. #NetGalley......more


Quotes

"Withoos does a remarkable job of creating distinctive characters and capturing the story’s setting as Sylvia contends with grief and the complexities of moving on."