This is my biggest, fattest book and one of my most popular. I wrote it before Dreaming of a Stranger was even published so it was a big leap of faith, hoping that not only would people buy one book from me, but a second too!
For the chapter headings in Caroline’s Sister I used the names of constellations. Both my dad and I shared an interest in astronomy. He bought me a telescope and a book about the stars when I was small, and using constellations as chapter headings honoured the link between us. Sadly, he passed away before my books were published but I’m sure he would have loved to see his favourite constellations as chapters.
One of the things I most like to do is to lie outside and look at the stars. Unfortunately, the amount of light pollution we have these days means that we see only a few at best. When I was younger and looked up at the night sky I could see thousands.
Nevertheless it’s still exciting to be able to identify familiar constellations
I tried to have a subtle tie between the chapters and the constellations that represent them.
Chapter 1 is headed Virgo (The Virgin) which is what Caroline is at the start of the novel. And she’s also very innocent about life even though she thinks she knows it all. Which is how many of us are in our late teens!
The constellation Virgo itself is at the centre of a cluster of galaxies, including one called The Sombrero. I love that objects in the sky have such down to earth names.
http://seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/Fig/virgo.html
Chapter 7 is headed Crux which means Cross and represents the Southern Cross which is the most famous constellation in the southern hemisphere. When I went to Africa on a book tour a few years ago I saw a gold chain with a southern cross in a jewellery shop and I bought it, both as a memento of a great trip and of Caroline’s Sister.
http://www.dibonsmith.com/cru_con.htm
Chapter 33, the second last, is headed Cassiopeia. It’s one of my favourite night-time constellations and you can see it in the sky, shaped like a crooked W. It’s meant to represent a woman tied to a chair. In the Greek legend Cassiopeia was condemned to circle Polaris in her throne, which is how you can find the constellation in the sky!
http://www.crystalinks.com/cassiopeia.html
