This novel is centered around the Boer War in South Africa during the turn of the century. Lettie and her family are divided by the conflict - her father and older brother join the fight while Lettie and the rest finds themselves in a concentration camp. Conditions are bad and yet Lettie develops a complex view of the British her family is fighting. I appreciate the author's drawing on their own family history and highlighting a lesser known conflict in this novel. That said, I just never really got into this novel. ( )

The Lost History of the Stars by Dave Boling is set in turn-of-the-century South Africa and follows a Boer family through the trials of the 1899 - 1902 war with the British. Fourteen year old Lettie, her stern and duty-bound mother, a younger brother and sister are Dutch Afrikaner settlers who are forcibly moved to a concentration camp after their farm was burned. Lettie’s father, grandfather and older brother are off fighting. Thousands of Afrikaner women and children were placed in these cramped and disease ridden camps for the duration.

We are given a detailed view of this family’s life, both before and during the war. Conditions in the camp are horrific and while Lettie tries to be brave and defiant, she yearns for her old life and quieter times. Her mother hates the British but Lettie has come to realize that they are not all bad, some are much more understanding and compassionate that she has been led to believe.

The Lost History of the Stars is a good novel of historical fiction and paints a vivid picture of people caught up in the shadow of a brutal war. I found it both interesting and educational but although it is beautifully written, I never quite felt that the characters were developed to the point where they became real.
Written as a testament to family, love and the will to survive, the author has based this novel on his grandfather’s experience during the Boer War. ( )

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The Lost History of Stars by Dave Boling is a powerful and shocking story about a family during The Second Anglo-Boer War during the early part of the 20th century in Africa. It's a work of historical fiction inspired by true events.

Parts of the book were difficult for me to read as the horror of reality sets in. It's unfathomable the scads of women and children that were effected, mainly due to disease. It truly was a war in opposition to children and a true picture of what it's like when war comes to your door.

This is another book I'd recommend for older students to read. If our young generation aren't educated on these tribulations in history, they'll be forgotten.

I'm so glad I came across this book. I look ahead to reading more works by this author. Highly recommend this book to all.

Thanks to Netgalley for sharing a copy with me.

5***** ( )

While Aletta's father, grandfather and brother are off fighting the British, she is rounded up with her mother and younger siblings and taken from their home in South Africa to a concentration camp. Set during the Boer War, this book shows the horrible and outrageous conditions that the Afrikaner women and children were forced into.

This book was haunting. It read like non-fiction I know very little about the Boer War, and even less about the concentration camp conditions. I highly recommend this book, it is definitely a must read. ( )

The Lost History of Stars by Dave Boling is another story of horrific atrocities and war told through the eyes of a child. This story is of the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa in which thousands of children died of deprivation and disease in internment camps. This book speaks to the power of fiction to convey a history I know very little about. It teaches and sends me off to do more research on the non-fiction actual history of events. For that, I appreciate the book.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/09/the-lost-history-of-stars.html

Reviewed for NetGalley ( )