Set in Wythenshawe in Manchester, And the Stars Were Burning Brightly follows fifteen-year-old Nathan as he attempts to understand his older brother Al’s death by suicide. Al, a deep thinker and talented artist, seemingly had everything to live for, but Nathan eventually learns that Al was the victim of a sustained bullying campaign on social media and in his everyday life at school and on the estate where they live.

As part of his quest for information both online and offline, Nathan gets to know Megan, one of Al’s few friends. Megan is also looking for answers, questioning her friendships and dealing with her own experiences of bereavement. Megan organises an exhibition of Al’s artwork in his memory. 

Each chapter starts with a brief passage written from Al’s point of view, allowing his voice to permeate the novel. The novel’s few classical references help to establish core themes such as the desire to disappear and the importance of hope. Although mentioned only briefly, Atlantis, Orion and Pandora all appear in Jawando’s debut to powerful effect. Al disappears, like Atlantis, leaving a mystery behind; Nathan, trying to solve the mystery, becomes like a hunter like Orion, whose constellation appears on his ceiling; and finally, the author reflects on the story of Pandora and the importance of hope.

Stars are the central motif of the novel, and appear in various forms, for example in Al’s art and in his interest in astronomy. Early in the novel, Nathan recalls Al sticking glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling the day their father leaves the family home. Characteristically, Al arranges the stars into real constellations:

“Then he started telling me that there was no point in having stars on the ceiling if they didn’t look like the real thing, and he kept going on about all these names. Saying how there was some star named after this guy called Ryan, and how everything was shaped like his belt.” (Jawando 2020, p. 7) 

One of Al’s chapter openings reveals that "Ryan" is, of course, Orion (p.331). Orion signifies the hunter, which is what Nathan becomes as he seeks out more information about Al’s experiences. Despite his initial lack of attention to Al’s lecture on the stars, Nathan also finds out more about Al through his own memories of time spent with his brother and the relationship they shared. 

The choice of Orion also reflects Al’s passion for the stars, seen in his interest in cosmology and his artwork. As well as being a hunter, the role taken on by Nathan, Orion was also violently killed, aligning him with Al’s experience of being bullied and premature death. As Orion is placed amongst the stars, so Al is remembered as "burning bright."

Disappearance is a major theme of the novel. In one of his chapter openings, Al reflects on the mythical lost city of Atlantis and considers how he too might be able to disappear: 

“When things got tough, I used to think about vanishing. Disappearing. How it would feel… how maybe it would solve everything. I’d go and sit on this bench in the middle of Civic, between Iceland and Costa, and I’d stay there for hours, watching all these people go by, and think about Atlantis. How a whole city could be swallowed up without a trace. Because, if an entire city can just disappear, then surely someone from Benchill could, too.” (p. 37)

However, despite his death Al does not disappear completely but leaves a legacy in the form of his art, shared by Megan on social media and seen and appreciated all over the world. Similarly, the city of Atlantis both disappears and lives on through its legend.

The core message of the novel is one of hope, emphasised by the author’s note after the story’s conclusion. Jawando discloses that like Al, she was bullied at school and attempted suicide. In the novel, hope is represented by the origami paper cranes on display at the Manchester Museum; for Jawando meanwhile, hope came in the form of a reminder from a teacher of the story of Pandora, a reminder “that no matter how dark times may seem, there is always hope.” (p. 391) This message of hope sums up the novel’s message to young people and its efforts to validate their lives and feelings.

And the Stars Were Burning Brightly [book review], Rums the Reader, February 19, 2020, available at rumsthereader.blog (accessed: June 17, 2020).