If you’re looking for a novel that will gut-punch you with its raw honesty while wrapping you in the warmth of family resilience, Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars is your next must-read. A searing follow-up to his Pulitzer-finalist debut There There, this book expands the Red Feather family’s story across centuries—from the horrors of the Sand Creek Massacre to the opioid crisis in modern Oakland. Blending history, heartbreak, and dark humor, Wandering Stars isn’t just a novel—it’s an unforgettable exploration of what it means to survive when your past refuses to stay buried2.
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A Story That Spans Generations—and Traumas
The novel opens in 1864, with a young Cheyenne man named Bird waking to the sounds of gunfire—the Sand Creek Massacre, where U.S. cavalry slaughtered hundreds of Native women, children, and elders. Bird survives but loses his voice, both literally and spiritually, until he’s imprisoned in Fort Marion, a star-shaped jail where the U.S. government attempts to forcibly assimilate Native prisoners. Renamed Jude Star, he’s stripped of his culture, given a Bible, and molded into a “proper” American—until alcohol and, later, peyote help him reclaim fragments of his identity2.
From there, Wandering Stars leaps forward through time, tracing how trauma echoes in the lives of Jude’s descendants:
- Charles, his son, numbs boarding-school memories with laudanum.
- Opal Bear Shield, a later descendant, raises Orvil and his brothers after their mother’s struggles with addiction.
- Orvil Red Feather, the teenage heart of the story, grapples with a gunshot wound from There There and the opioids prescribed to ease his pain—pills he calls “Blanx,” which both numb and hollow him2.
Orange doesn’t just show addiction; he makes us feel its pull—the way substances promise escape while tightening their grip. As Orvil thinks: “The hole left by the bullet felt open, like something was coming through it, asking to be filled.”2
Why Wandering Stars Stands Out
- A Masterclass in Voice & Structure
Orange plays with narrative form like a jazz musician—shifting between second-person commands (“Walk away. Ignore him yelling after you. He is lying.”), stream-of-consciousness, and darkly funny family dialogues. One moment, you’re in 19th-century Florida prisons; the next, you’re eavesdropping on Orvil’s brothers debating Shakespeare vs. street slang in a 7-Eleven parking lot2. - Unflinching but Never Exploitative
The book stares down genocide, addiction, and systemic racism, but Orange never reduces his characters to victims. Even at their lowest, they crack jokes, roll their eyes at “corny” Native stereotypes, and find fleeting joy in dominoes, rubber-band balls, and a mysterious scrawny dog that keeps reappearing across generations. - A Sequel That Outshines Its Predecessor
While There There led inexorably toward a powwow shooting, Wandering Stars asks: What happens after survival? The answer is messy, tender, and full of small rebellions—like Orvil’s great-aunt Opal sneaking frybread into a rehab center or his brother Loother deadpanning, “Why’s it gotta be so hard for people in this family to just be normal?”
Who Should Read This?
✔ Fans of generational sagas (think Homegoing or The Covenant of Water)
✔ Anyone intrigued by Native American history (especially beyond the “noble savage” clichés)
✔ Readers who love voice-driven, structurally daring fiction
✔ Audiobook lovers—the narration (available on Audible) brings Orange’s lyrical prose to life.
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Final Verdict: A Novel That Demands to Be Felt
Wandering Stars isn’t an easy read, but it’s a necessary one. Tommy Orange doesn’t just write about inherited trauma—he makes it visceral, weaving Cheyenne spirituality, bureaucratic violence, and TikTok-era teen angst into something wholly unique. By the end, you’ll understand why The New York Times called it “a ghost story, a addiction memoir, and a protest novel all at once.”
So if you’re ready for a book that shakes your soul while making you laugh inappropriately, grab Wandering Stars—and prepare to meet a family you’ll never forget.
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Available now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. Don’t just read it—let it rewrite your understanding of survival.
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