Since his first telescopic encounter with a full moon rising over magical St Francis Bay David Kingsley knew his heart belonged to the stars. Betha, his first kiss, and all those that followed failed to wrest it away from the handsome, newly graduated Doctor of Astronomy and his career ambitions in the USA.
Nevertheless, despite having it all – brains, good looks and a rich father – he realises that he is ill equipped for life: he is incapable of love. Every relationship he gets into he shipwrecks. Is he doing it on purpose? He resigns his heart to the stars when he receives a call from his mother in South Africa. His father has died. Will he please come home for the funeral?
Ghosts of his past await him there: Betha is still in love with him, his father’s will is a shock and his mother reveals a secret from her past that turns David’s understanding of his childhood on its head. David is forced to stay longer in a desperate attempt to answer Love’s eternal questions: What is love? How do I love? Who do I love? Will he stay faithful to his first love, the stars, do the right thing by Betha or sacrifice all for a love he never saw coming?
St Francis Bay
South Africa
Other Important Locations in the Story
Cornell College, Upstate New York
David Kingsley defies his famous father and breaks a century-old Architectural family tradition in choosing to study Astronomy at Cornell College. He has just completed his Doctorate and applied for the coveted position of assistant to Professor Carl Sagan.
Professor Carl Sagan
Hailed as the greatest astronomer since Galileo and pioneer in the Search For Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI), Carl Sagan is David’s mentor and idol. David identifies with Sagan’s youthful experience of ‘Awe and Wonder’ at the Cosmos and is determined to continue the great man’s work.
Fuertes Observatory, Cornell
This historical building is where David meets Professor Sagan for the first time and impresses him with his knowledge of Fuertes’s beautiful old telescope. During his six years at Cornell, David spends many solitary hours with ‘My Lady’ (as he calls her), developing and deepening his love affair with the stars.
Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa
Jeffrey’s Bay is the surfing Mecca of South Africa and St Francis Bay’s ‘scruffy’ neighbor. David does not surf, but J-Bay will complete the triangle of his life: Cornell, St Francis and Jeffrey’s. Which will win his heart?
WSL Women's Championship
Surfing is still a man’s sport in South Africa; those ‘wahines’ who do brave the waves are considered physically inferior or, if they do have the shoulders to compete, are mocked as being ‘butch’. Prize money for the Women’s Competition is a quarter of that of the Men’s.
Supertubes, Jeffrey's Bay
Home of ‘The Perfect Wave’, it is also home to the Queen of Supertubes, Fallon Golden. It is time for change and she is just the ‘wahine’ to shake things up.
