It’s still an enjoyable read up until that point, and a few notes are included about what Wagamese had intended to happen in the remainder of the plot so your biggest questions are answered, but of course you turn the last page seeking a bit of closure. The book ends abruptly on a cliffhanger of sorts, and yet, I didn’t finish it feeling jarred or wanting more-I simply felt a little sad about what this book could have been. Unbeknownst to them, Cadotte has also ended up in Vancouver in search of Emmy.

The book ends with him on his first trip to Vancouver, Emmy and Winnie in tow, all basking in the big city lights and excited to enjoy their time away together. Because he’s so ‘in touch’ with animal life in particular, he’s able to come extremely close to wild animals, so he takes pictures of them, gaining a significant following and reputation for his art. Although he suffers from an unexplained trauma and/or neglect in his early childhood, Starlight has found coping mechanisms in his interactions with nature. Starlight is an Indigenous man who was lucky enough to be adopted (perhaps informally) by his ‘old man’, who taught him the basics of wilderness survival. Meanwhile, Cadotte is frantically searching for Emmy to exact revenge on her leaving, full of anger and intent on killing her. Through some coincidences and somewhat unbelievable foster care arrangements, Emmy and Winnie eventually find refuge with Starlight on his farm, and there they not only find safety and stability, but a new connection to nature that begins their journey in healing. They’re forced to use physical violence to escape with Cadotte’s truck once he realizes their plans, leaving with a sac of dirty clothes and not much else. Four years later we meet Emmy and her young daughter Winnie, fleeing a life ruled by abusive drunkard Cadotte. Instead of leaving his painful memories behind in the modest farmhouse he grew up in, Starlight decides to stay and continue the family business of farming. The story begins with a young man named Starlight who has just lost his ‘old man’. Despite the fact that it ends abruptly, this books still feels like a complete novel through the efforts of his publishers to draw out similar themes from his other works, so readers are let down gradually as the book comes to a close.

With his death, we lost a compassionate and wise writer who still had so much to tell us, but with the support of his estate and his literary agents, Starlight became one more story to remember him by. How do you properly review a book that’s unfinished? Starlight by Richard Wagamese is the novel he was writing when he suddenly died, leaving can-lit lovers like myself in mourning.

Richard wagamese starlight