Review: It's a beautiful novel
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 2, 2014
Stars Shine After Dark is a beautiful novel.Mona, a young movie star, and Tim, a star quarterback, meet at UCLA. Until then, both haven’t done anything else but work on their careers since childhood. Both are stars in their own rights. They are used to working hard, getting things their way, and being admired for it. They fall in love. After a short courtship they get married. Mona wants to put her career on the backburner and follow Tim, wherever he will get drafted to.The day before Tim signs a contract he has a car accident, which causes permanent injury to his knee. Since he does not have insurance Mona throws herself back into work. Even though they love each other Mona and Tim seem to be drifting apart. Things get complicated by the fact that somebody close to the couple feeds the tabloids about little events, which get blown up out of proportion. With Tim being an unhappy “houseman”, hating his “job (vs. a career)” in real estate, and Mona shooting movies out of town non-stop, their marriage seems to be doomed. Most cleverly, the author introduces what will turn out to be the quintessential problem, early:“...Have you ever thought about what you'd do if you couldn't play ball?" she [Mona] asked. She had to know."No, can't say so," Tim leaned back and started pulling grapes from their stems, popping them into his mouth. "But I'm not going to worry about that. I got a great record. The offers are sure to come. I've got time.”"Players retire early.""And by the time I do, I'll have the next step planned,” he said. “One secret to winning the game is to take it one play at a time. Now will you stop worrying? It's all right.""I didn't mean to nag." Mona turned her eyes downward, and picked up a piece of cheddar cheese. She wasn’t happy with his answer. Secretly, down deep inside, she hoped he had a plan, a plan that would let them stay together….”When exactly that happens, it turns out that neither Tim nor Mona have a plan. While Tim gets somewhat depressive, Mona throws herself into work, thereby excluding herself from being part of the solution.The author’s side characters Tina, the masseuse, who works at Tim’s gym, and Suzy, Mona’s friend and publicity agent, get to articulate their viewpoints, thereby rounding out the picture.With this book author Paula Hrbacek has created a novel for young and old, men and women. As all of us know  the topic, “how do you regroup when things go wrong?” never gets old; it happens to all of us.Paula Hrbacek’s approach is positive, reassuring, and encouraging. She reflects her own approach as told in the introduction:“… There once was a man in need who received money from a stranger. He was told the money was a loan, and that he should repay the loan to the next stranger who asked for his help. This book is my repayment to all the strangers in my life who wrote or said exactly what I needed to hear, at the exact moment I needed to hear it…”I truly liked it. Highly recommend to all.Gisela Hausmann, author and blogger