A Wheel of Stars

by Laura Gilmour Bennett

A Wheel of Stars Bennett, Laura Gilmour

Genres: Historical, History, Romance

1 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 1990

About the author

Laura Gilmour Bennett is the pen name of Laura Bennett and Jean Gilmour Harvey.

Reviews

[BookReadingJenn]

I read this book a very long time ago, and a few times since. This is one of my all time favorite books.

[Phyllis Runyan]

This book takes place in the Languedoc area of France. It goes between present day and the thirteenth century. It is very similar to Labyrinth by Kate Mosse.

[Diane Oconnor]

I wouldn’t recommend this book. It started with great promise, but rambled on until a very predictable end.

[Lisa]

Edit 14/11/14 - rounded up to 3 stars after all, as the story has really stuck in my head.

2.5 stars. This novel was also published under the title By All that is Sacred, by the same author.

Set in the year 1244 and 'present day' (around 1988 I think), this novel has both romantic and historical aspects to it, as well as featuring reincarnation and black magic.

The historical storyline was interesting enough, but the present day storyline dragged on a bit and I felt the whole thing just moved too slowly when the plot was in fact very formulaic and obvious as to what was going to happen. After about half way through I just wanted to get to the end and be done with it!

The characters were not very gripping, and the love plots not very believable. I still don't know what the villain's motivation was (past or present) other than being "pure evil".

As another reviewer said, the descriptions of the Languedoc landscape were very well done though, and make me want to visit the region. Some of the more peaceful scenes that took place there were very soothing to read.

However, I wouldn't recommend this book. If you want a romantic historical novel featuring the Cathars and the Languedoc region, Elizabeth Chadwick's Daughters of the Grail is much, much better.

[Daphne]

Not sure how this book ended up on my Amazon wish list. It's got a few plausible-sounding plotlines, including "You were lovers in a past life, so now you will be again", and also the Holy Grail and Satanic magic. Sadly, the whole thing felt rather formulaic. In both the past and the present, I wasn't convinced by the romance. The Satanic badguys are hugely over the top and, seemingly, evil for the sake of it. I really only had sympathy for the ex-wife and the heroine-in-the-past, maybe because they had plights (addiction, poverty) that seemed real rather than forced by the plot. The strongest part of the book is the setting and the descriptions thereof. I think it's clear the authors (this is a pen name for two authors) love these parts of Europe. So, I suppose it's worth skimming but I can't recommend it strongly.

[Marie]

Haunting. 🙂

[BookReadingJenn]

Apparently this is the same book as "By All That Is Sacred". Perhaps republished later? I read this story a very long time ago. It is one of my favorites.