Heart Is a Star

Dive into the heart of Australia with this blockbuster debut as one woman confronts her past, family secrets, and her own identity amid the chaos of midlife, offering a poignant exploration of love, loss, and self-discovery.

Layla Byrnes is exhausted. She’s juggling a demanding job as an anesthesiologist, a disintegrating marriage, her young kids, and a needy lover. And most particularly she’s managing her histrionically unstable mother, who repeatedly threatens to kill herself.

But this year, it’s different. When her mother calls just before Christmas, she doesn’t follow the usual script. Instead, she tells Layla that there’s something she needs to tell her about her much-loved father. In response, Layla drops everything to rush to her childhood home on the wild west coast of Tasmania. She’s determined to finally confront her mother - and find out what really happened to her father - and lay some demons to rest.

The Heart is a Star is an engrossing, lyrical and powerfully absorbing novel about the complicated and beautiful messiness of midlife; about the ways in which we navigate an intricate, complicated world; and about how we can uncover our true selves when we are forced to face the myths that make us.

Megan Rogers began her career as an editorial assistant in publishing houses before moving into marketing libraries. She has taught creative writing in universities for over ten years and holds a PhD in Creative Writing. Her debut novel, The Heart is a Star, was one of Australia’s bestselling debuts in 2023 and has been optioned by the award-winning Aquarius Films for screen adaptation. She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and two daughters.