Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Light from a Distant Star

By: Mary McGarry Morris
Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.90

Buy for $17.90

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

A gripping coming-of-age novel with a murder at its heart and a heroine as unforgettable as Harper Lee’s Scout.

Light from a Distant Star is the moving and powerful story of innocence and betrayal told in the endearingly wise voice of 13-year-old Nellie Peck. It is early summer, and her beloved father’s business is failing. Her mother has to go back to work, and Nellie’s older half sister has launched a troubling search for her birth father. Forced to take care of her shy younger brother, Nellie is determined to make him—and herself—toughen up.

Three strangers enter Nellie’s protected life: mysterious and brutish Max Devaney works in her grandfather’s junkyard, the thieving Bucky Saltonstall has just arrived from New York City, and Dolly Bedelia, a young stripper who rents the small apartment in the back of the Pecks’ house, becomes the titillating focus of Nellie’s eavesdropping.

Nellie is justly proud of her own infallible lie detector until violence erupts in her young life and she is silenced by fear and scandal. The truth, as she believes it, is shocking and unthinkable, and with everyone’s eyes riveted on her in the courtroom, Nellie finds herself compromised by moral confusion. No one will listen, no one believes her, and a man’s life hangs in the balance.

A stunning evocation of innocence lost, Light from a Distant Star stands as one of the most engaging novels yet from the best-selling author of Songs in Ordinary Time.

©2011 Mary McGarry Morris (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Light from a Distant Star

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Predictable

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably not. Story line was predictable. Kept waiting for the twist I didn't see coming... But it never came.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

See above

Did Amy Rubinate do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Somewhat

Was Light from a Distant Star worth the listening time?

No

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Slow start, rushed ending

After a slow start, the story became interesting. But an abrupt ending, which wrapped up all the previous suspense in about (3) sentences, was a huge letdown. Another author that doesn't know how to write a decent finale. Very disappointing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Light from a distant star.

Disappointing forensics. DNA under the fingernails no. Any mention of a hinted pregnancy after the girl was murdered. No. Was there a suicide note no mention. The story left me hanging with no resolution.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!