Bright Objects

This beautifully written debut literary mystery masterfully blends astronomy with mysticism, a tragic accident, a love story and a man with a shocking plan.

Sylvia is a young Australian widow, still reeling from the death of her husband Christopher in a hit and run accident two years ago. She was resuscitated and brought back from the dead, but her grief at losing Christopher, a young man with so much life still to live, has left her with thoughts of killing herself. The driver of the car was never found, although Sylvia has her suspicions of who it is and has become obsessed with proving it and bringing him to justice.

Sylvia works at a funeral parlour where she helps people with kindness and compassion to choose the type of funeral they want for their loved ones. One of her customers, Joseph Evans, a local mystic, becomes obsessed with the news that a newly discovered comet will soon be visible to the naked eye in the southern skies and believes there must be a connection between his mother’s death and the coming of the comet. He gradually draws in other believers in the comet’s power for change into a cultish group, including Sylvia’s mother-in-law, who is also still grieving Christopher’s untimely death.

At the funeral parlour Sylvia also meets Theo St John, the astronomer who discovered the comet, which has been named after him. Theo’s sadness evokes a feeling of an affinity with this man. She discovers he is monitoring the comet’s progress as it approaches Earth at the nearby observatory and asks if he will show her the comet through the telescope there. Once the comet becomes visible in the night skies, everyone in town is drawn to it and comet fever infects them all. A festival on Joseph’s farm is planned for August when the comet will reach its apex and Joseph and his group plan a special ritual for the end of the night.

Humanity has always regarded comets as something mystical and unworldly, bearing messages from outer space, and tried to instil meaning into their appearance. Todd’s writing is cool and objective which suits the subject matter very well, with its themes of grief, loss, loneliness and obsession. There is a splash of romance as well and while it took a while to warm to the characters and their flaws, by the end of the book I was deeply invested in their futures. This unusual, well crafted literary debut, with a mystery underlying its’ major themes, is both immersive and thought provoking, resulting in a compelling read.

With thanks to Simon & Schuster for a copy to read.