When she was five, her mother ran with Steph and her younger sister in tow from an abusive husband into the arms of a small Cherokee community, where she hoped they might finally belong. But Steph soon set her sights as far away as she can get, vowing that she will let nothing interfere with her dream to become an astronaut, and ultimately, to go to the moon. In Steph’s certainty that only her ambition can save her, she will stretch her bonds with the three women who know and love her most dearly her younger sister Kayla, an artist whose determination to appear good takes her life to unexpected places, her college girlfriend Della, who strives to reclaim her identity as an adult after being removed from her family as a young girl through a challenge to the Indian child Welfare Act, and her mother Hannah, who has held up her family’s history as a beacon of inspiration to her kids, all the while keeping the truth about her own past a secret.
Told through these women’s interwoven lives, and spanning three decades and several continents, To the Moon and Back is an astounding and expansive coming-of-age novel of mothers and daughters, love and sacrifice, alienation and heartbreak, terror and wonder.
At its core, it is the story of the extraordinary lengths one woman will go to find a little space for herself.
A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick
MY REVIEW
This is an incredible brilliant first class debut novel, by the talented author Eliana Ramage. A touching story, with a mother who was in an abusive marriage, moves with her children to Oklahoma.
All thirteen year old Steph, wants to do in life is to become an astronaut, with her favourite thing is watching the moon. She good at science, wanting to attend Space Camp. She needs to impress NASA, sending a letter to be accepted into Philips Exeter Academy, but no letter arrived back.
Her mother puts her in the Space-Culture Camp, which is nothing like the Space Camp, she really wanted to attend.
I was annoyed with Steph’s mother as she didn’t tell Steph that she got into Exeter. How can a mother do that? Don’t miss this page-turning unusual debut novel, that has so much to offer, it’s ideal for all book clubs.
With Steph wanting to be an astronaut, I think a smaller version of this novel would be fantastic for middle grade readers.
About author Eliana Ramage
Eliana Ramage holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. She has received residence and fellowships from the Kimmel Harding Nelson Centre, Lambda Literary, Tin House, and Vermont Studio Centre. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, she lives in Nashville with her family. To the Moon and Back is her first novel.
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