Smells Like Stars

Fiction. African & African American Studies. Journalist Kerstin Ostheim and freelance photographer P.J. Banner have been together six months after meeting on a dating website. As their wedding fast approaches, they question their compatibility while investigating mysterious horse killings taking place in Ogweyo's Cove, the Pacific tourist haven where they live. In the meantime, Schuld Ostheim, Kerstin's transgender daughter from her first marriage, is preparing for an art exhibit after being hospitalized for a physical assault while her boyfriend, Woloff, an Olympic medalist in the 1500m, comes to terms with a career-ending knee injury. As Kerstin and P.J. get closer to the truth about the dead horses, they also begin to more clearly see each other. Simultaneously, Schuld's and Woloff's pasts come back to haunt them, jeopardizing their sense of a possible future. Ultimately, SMELLS LIKE STARS draws attention to what is hidden in plain sight, what cruelties life presents, and what struggles we face in our search for meaning. "The latest novel by D. Nandi Odhiambo, SMELLS LIKE STARS, is a swirling, dizzying, drama full of complex characters and high stakes. Following people who live outside of the mainstream and are typically marginalized, the book challenges the idea of social 'deviance' and 'normal' moral decision making."--Leigh Kinch-Pedrosa, LLP Blog "SMELLS LIKE STARS is a timeless story of those who must fight for their love beyond all understanding, including their own. Taking hints from Zadie Smith's NW, it is also a search for meaning in the face of oppression rooted in overlapping histories, upbringings, and families both given and chosen."--Shazia Hafiz Ramjii, World Literature Today "D. Nandi Odhiambo on Writing Violence, Authentic Choices, & Radical Doubt in His New Novel."--Open Book