Title: The Star Thrower   

Author: Kathleen Welton

Genre: Literary / Environmental Fiction

 

After graduating, best friends Ava, Sam, and Leo treat themselves to a trip to Bali. Their experiences on the Indonesian island lead them to reconsider the career paths expected of them, and they promise to pursue what they genuinely want to do.

Once back in their coastal hometown, the friends’ Balinese pact appears to be sidelined when they find themselves embroiled in a legal battle with a corporation accused of dumping toxic waste into the ocean. In true David-and-Goliath fashion, the three triumph, and it’s through their victory that the friends finally discover their true purpose.

The Star Thrower draws inspiration from the 1969 essay of the same name by anthropologist Loren Eiseley. Nonetheless, Welton’s story belongs to her three main protagonists and resonates with fresh contemporary relevance.

Ava is the more central character, and overall, the narrative unfolds through her third-person perspective. Although the reader is privy to her immediate thoughts, emotional responses, and backstory regarding her mother, Welton maintains detachment, allowing the reader to infer complexities and histories, as she does with all the characters.

This objectivity, combined with Welton’s beautifully dreamy prose, lends Ava an ethereal aspect while keeping the reader firmly grounded in the narrative moment.

Indeed, despite the lingering elegance of Welton’s words and her softly sublime figurative language, The Star Thrower has a stripped-back quality that works well given its brevity and also allows the reader to fully absorb the book’s core concept.

The story opens with Ava preparing for and attending her graduation. Welton’s measured prose reflects Ava’s inner turmoil in the face of her father, Roger’s, expectations. It’s a gently intriguing beginning which also introduces Sam and Leo.

Neither of the young men is provided with much context, nor is the relationship between them and Ava beyond having met at university. The trio’s dynamic initially puzzles a little, though the reader senses a deep bond among them.

However, as events gather pace and the three utilize their unique talents, the seemingly uncomplicated nature of their connection and the ease with which they work together become their strengths and are integral to the novella’s message.

The friends’ time in Bali is pivotal for their emerging self-awareness and individual aspirations. The island’s ecosystem, vividly rendered by Welton, becomes meaningful to each of them for different reasons.

Additionally, their chance yet profound encounter with a monk adds a spiritual layer. Bali is also where Welton weaves through Eiseley’s enduring star-thrower image, allowing her story to adopt its subtly allegorical qualities.

Following Bali, the transition into confronting the corporation responsible for harming the local environment is believable. The conversations between the friends as they exchange ideas and brainstorm are persuasive, adding depth and originality not only to Ava, Sam, and Leo but also to the overall story.

Occasionally, Ava, and consequently, the plot, is burdened from over-idealism, with a few less-than-realistic turns. Nevertheless, Welton ensures they face convincing setbacks and delivers a satisfyingly credible twist three-quarters of the way through.

The hometown appearances of activist Ketut, star-thrower Raka, and the Monk (Zen Master), three Balinese characters who seem to reflect aspects of the three friends, feel somewhat convenient. Notwithstanding, their presence at the celebratory festival reinforces its visionary, utopian vibe.

Welton concludes her story with a neat twist that brings Roger’s past into the light and cleverly reframes it through the lens of his daughter’s journey of self-actualization.

The Star Thrower is a captivating novella driven by three complex, engaging characters and written with poise and lucidity. Welton has crafted a thought-provoking, timeless tale inspired by the past yet inflected with the anxieties of the present.

 

 

This Editorial Review was written by the Book Review Directory staff. To receive a similarly honest, professional review for one of your own books, click here.