Synopsis
Claire's older brother, Daniel, has disappeared. He leaves work one Friday afternoon, shortly before Christmas, and vanishes into thin air. Married, successful, rich, there seems no reason why he would abandon his life. Has he been killed? Has he been kidnapped? Or has he just had enough?

Set between London and Miami, this is the story of a family with ghosts to bury. It opens on the day of the Challenger shuttle explosion at Cape Canaveral: a tragic moment that rips this family apart and sets Daniel's disappearance in motion some 18 years later. In the midst of it all sits Claire—divorced, irresponsible, fluent in six foreign languages yet hopeless at interpreting life. It is Claire who knows Daniel best. It is Claire who becomes convinced that she knows where her older brother is and sets off on a journey to find him.

News Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:41:37 CST Vu

Sex’n’drugs and a new typewriter
March 17, 2007

1996 WAS LOUISE WENER’S year. As the lead singer of the indie band Sleeper, she had two Top Ten hits, one of which — the spiky Sale of the Century— became a Britpop anthem. Sleeper’s second album, The It Girl, went platinum. When they supported R.E.M at the Milton Keynes Bowl on the evening she turned 29, Michael Stipe and 70,000 fans sang happy birthday. And if that wasn’t enough, she was voted 37th sexiest woman in the world by FHM — above Claudia Schiffer and Sharon Stone.

(excerpt)

She is now working on her fourth novel, featuring a female explorer in the 1930s. Wener (who “doesn’t get” marriage) still lives with Andy, and together they have formed Huge Advance with the music journalist John Harris (guitar) and a Faber editor, Hannah Griffiths (bass). They play purely “for the hell of it” at fringe literary festivals such as Port Eliot. Although she has no desire to relive her glory days, she sometimes wonders what would have happened if Sleeper hadn’t made it — like Claire in The Half Life of Stars, she is acutely aware that “a simple twist of fate” can shape a life.

News Sun, 12 Nov 2006 10:23:43 CST Vu

Tales with twists of fate and family ties
By Diane White | November 12, 2006

(excerpt)

THE HALF LIFE OF STARS (Book) (Oct 2006)

"Can a single event, a simple twist of fate, dictate the way we go on to live our lives?" wonders Claire, the central character in Louise Wener's lovely, offbeat fourth novel, "The Half Life of Stars." In her brother Daniel's case, the answer may be yes. But the event in question was no simple twist of fate. When Daniel, a lawyer, disappears, leaving his wife and children behind, everyone has a theory . He's been kidnapped. He's intentionally dropped out, with the help of a mysterious Japanese organization. He's run off with another woman. But Claire is the only one with a notion of where he may have gone, and why.

Claire is an appealing narrator. She's divorced, sexy, irreverent, imaginative, probably the sanest member of a family held together by a net of lies. With her ex-husband, Michael, Claire searches for Daniel in Florida, where the family spent several unhappy years. Their father died of a heart attack on a trip to Cape Canaveral. Daniel, then a teenager, was with him. Claire has an idea that there may be some connection between her father's death and her brother's disappearance. Wener, the lead singer of the 1990s British band Sleeper, is at her best when she's exploring family relationships.

THE HALF LIFE OF STARS (Book) (Oct 2006)

The Half Life of Stars
Price: $14.95
On Sale: 10/24/2006
Formats: Trade PB

A Novel By Louise Wener

Claire's older brother, Daniel, has disappeared. He leaves work one Friday afternoon, shortly before Christmas, and vanishes into thin air. Married, successful, rich, there seems no reason why he would abandon his life. Has he been killed? Has he been kidnapped? Or has he just had enough?

Set between London and Miami, this is the story of a family with ghosts to bury. It opens on the day of the Challenger shuttle explosion at Cape Canaveral: a tragic moment that rips this family apart and sets Daniel's disappearance in motion some 18 years later. In the midst of it all sits Claire—divorced, irresponsible, fluent in six foreign languages yet hopeless at interpreting life. It is Claire who knows Daniel best. It is Claire who becomes convinced that she knows where her older brother is and sets off on a journey to find him.