Book description
'FABULOUS' The Times
'FASCINATING' New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
At the age of thirty-five, Fanny van de Grift Osbourne leaves her philandering husband in San Francisco and sets sail for Belgium to study art, with her three children and nanny in tow. Not long after her arrival,…
Why read it?
3 authors picked Under the Wide and Starry Sky as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I grew up reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and found this book about the woman who changed his life riveting.
I also loved it because Stevenson sails to French Polynesia and I have sailed to French Polynesia and written a book about it. So there are many connections for me. Plus, it’s about the real life of scorned woman, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne who flees San Francisco and her philandering husband and eventually falls in love with Stevenson.
An adventure that is history. Yes please!
From Leslie's list on powerful women in the 1920s and 1930.
Adventure and romance abound in Under the Wide and Starry Sky. The novel features Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and his American wife, sharp-shooting frontier woman Fanny Osbourne, and follows their remarkable, globetrotting life together. After meeting at an art colony in France, they spent nearly two decades together in a relationship filled with passion, drama, and heartache that played out across such varied landscapes as the coast of England, an abandoned mining camp in California, New York State’s Adirondack Mountains, and the South Seas, where they spent their last days together. The story made me cry at the…
From Shannon's list on classic writers as characters.
I’m married to a novelist, so I like books about writing couples. That’s what drew me initially to this novel about Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and the American writer Fanny Osborne. She was 38, ten years his senior when they met in France in the 1870s; married with children but separated from a philandering husband back in California. Stevenson was single, sickly, immature, and eccentric, but Fanny eventually realized this was outweighed by his kindness and imagination. By turns comic and tragic, the story moves from out West to Europe and back again. Horan’s portrayal of the strengths and…
From Lenore's list on romances of famous literary couples.
If you love Under the Wide and Starry Sky...
The High House
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
Want books like Under the Wide and Starry Sky?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 90 books like Under the Wide and Starry Sky.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,210
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Under the Wide and Starry Sky, you might also like...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Living On Purpose
Many people from all walks of life, even after many accomplishments and experiences, are often plagued by dissatisfaction, pervasive longing, and deep questioning. These feelings may make them wonder if they are living the life they were meant to lead.
Living on Purpose is the guidebook these people have been…
