“A deeply personal exploration of immigration, belonging, and survival, this autobiographical novel was written 20 years ago, but it was too painful for Cameroonian writer Miano to publish it until now. . . . In frank and emotive prose, Miano offers a rare look at aspects of society that are often ignored and forgotten.”

Booklist

“I’m very glad. . . to have been introduced to Léonora Miano through her autobiographical novel Stardust, translated from the French by Gila Walker. . . . The book follows Louise, a young mother from Cameroon, and her one-year-old daughter, Bliss, as they move through that system at the mercy of its employees—many of them clueless or cruel, others kind—and come to live at Crimée, an emergency shelter. . . . The book is written in third person, a decision that Miano carefully considered during the revision process. . . . but the narrative voice occasionally swings back into the more intimate I. . . Through these shifts in point of view, Miano protects her distance from the reader while also refusing to let us forget that this story is true, that it happened to her.”

Asymptote, "What’s New in Translation: April 2026”