The latest from Watson (Love Fights
) recalls his autobiographical early work—indeed, in Little Star
it almost seems the characters in Breakfast After Noon
have just grown up and had a child. Simon is a painter in a ceramics studio who's chosen part-time work to spend more time with his toddler, Cassie—but he's having trouble. Because he's part-time, the work he's assigned is less fulfilling, and his daughter is going through a phase in which she demands her mother, Meg, and rejects her father—because he's "a boy." Then a real estate snafu forces them to find a new house fast, and work for both gets more complicated. Simon escapes from the daily stress of parenting and growing up with daydreams about space—astronauts, planets, stars—and musing about how his life has changed. The star theme never quite connects to the rest of the story, but Watson's characters and his art are as charming as ever, and young parents will relate to the difficult choices Simon and Meg have to make about how to raise their child in a world where they must have two incomes to give her what she needs. Despite some flawed allusions, Watson's affection for his characters—and his talent—shine through. (Apr.)
