Stardust: Chapter 1  Summary & Analysis

Like so many others, this story is about “a young man who wished to gain his Heart’s Desire.” It begins in Wall, an old town in the English countryside built on a giant granite rock. It is surrounded by forests, a lake, and on the east side, a tall gray rock wall. There’s a break in the wall, and one can see a meadow through the gap. But rather than graze livestock on the meadow, Wall instead posts guards at the gap, keeping people from going through. Sometimes the guards let people through if the person has a particular “look in the eyes.” The only time people are allowed through is every nine years, on May Day.

This story takes place years ago, when Queen Victoria was still a flighty young woman, Charles Dickens was publishing Oliver Twist, and Mr. Morse had just invented Morse code. None of those people—perhaps save Dickens—would have taken you seriously had you brought up magic or the land of Faerie. It’s April, and people from all over the world travel to Wall. Eighteen-year-old Dunstan Thorn resents all the visitors, who have filled Mr. Bromios’s inn, the Seventh Magpie, and are now booking rooms in people’s homes.

Bridget Comfrey, the Seventh Magpie’s pot-girl, has been going out with Tommy Forester, but now, Tommy and a dark-eyed visitor to the village are fighting over her. The stranger, Alum Bey, throws Tommy down and sits on him, ending the fight. Though Alum Bey then bows to Bridget, Bridget runs to care for Tommy. Dunstan isn’t at the Seventh Magpie that evening, as he’s busy courting Daisy Hempstock. They often walk in the evenings, accompanied by Mrs. Hempstock. When they say goodbye at the Hempstock house and Dunstan heads home, Daisy laments to her mother that he hasn’t proposed yet.

Visitors continue to arrive in Wall. It’s now the 29th of April, and Dunstan and Tommy stand guard at the wall. They feel important as they shoo away curious visitors. Two other men come to relieve them at twilight, and they head for the Seventh Magpie. There, Dunstan can’t help but feel excited by all the strange smells, languages, and people in the room. He stares at a tall Black man with a top hat, who invites Dunstan to share his dessert. The man reveals that he can’t find a room, and eventually, Dunstan agrees to rent the man his cottage. The man offers money, but Dunstan suggests that’s insufficient as tomorrow at the market, the man will trade in “miracles and wonders.” Annoyed, the man says that Dunstan will get his “Heart’s Desire” tomorrow, and he also hands over the coins.

Dunstan sleeps in the cow barn that night. It’s stormy, and in the middle of the night someone steps on his feet. The voice explains that he was sleeping in a tree, but lightning hit the tree, and he was getting wet. It asks if he might sleep here. As Dunstan agrees, lightning flashes, and Dunstan can see that the voice is coming from someone small and hairy, wearing a big hat. Dunstan falls back to sleep, dreaming of going with Daisy, a tall man, and a furry creature to see his Heart’s Desire.

When Dunstan wakes up in the morning, he’s alone. He dresses in his best clothes, grabs breakfast from his mother, and takes his money to the gap. When he finally walks through the gap in the wall, he feels like he’s “breaking the greatest of taboos.” He walks with the man in the top hat renting his cottage, explaining that he was a child the last time the market came. The man reminds him to be polite and to not accept gifts. He also says it’s time to pay the last of his rent, Dunstan’s “Heart’s Desire.”

At the fair, vendors sell goods like eyes, “bluebell cloth,” “Coats of night,” and various remedies. Dunstan considers purchasing a tiny crystal cat for Daisy, but he drops it when it blinks at him. Mr. Bromios is selling refreshments. Although Wall’s residents are always tempted by refreshments sold by those who live “Beyond the Wall,” generations have been warned that it isn’t acceptable to eat fairy food. Every nine years, the meadow hosts the Faerie market, and this is the only time there’s commerce between Faerie and the mortal world.

Dunstan keeps his eyes out for a trinket for Daisy. Hearing lovely chimes, he follows the sound and finds a stall filled with tiny crystal flowers. The vendor, a young woman with violet eyes and cat ears, greets him and begins to describe the flowers. As she does, the man with the top hat walks past and says his rent is paid. Just then, Dunstan notices that the woman is bound to the caravan behind the stall by a thin silver chain—and that she’s extremely attractive. She explains that the witch who owns the stall kidnapped and enslaved her. She’ll be free “on the day the moon loses her daughter, if that occurs in a week when two Mondays come together.”

The young woman won’t give her name—she doesn’t have one now that she’s enslaved—and they begin to haggle on a price. But Dunstan can’t help but notice her curves and her pretty eyes. He agrees to pay for a snowdrop with a kiss on her cheek, and her scent is intoxicating. She hands over the flower and tells Dunstan to come back tonight and hoot like an owl. The woman has his heart now.

Dunstan approaches Daisy at Mr. Bromios’s tent, gives her the snowdrop, and kisses her cheek. Mr. Hempstock declares that Dunstan is “bespelled,” so he tells Tommy to take Dunstan to Wall. Daisy, meanwhile, cries happy tears. Mr. Hempstock and Mr. Thorn find the stall selling the flowers, which is now manned by an old woman and a beautiful, chained bird. The old woman has no idea what happened to Dunstan and is just upset that a “good-for-nothing” gave away one of her flowers.

Tommy settles Dunstan on a bench in the Seventh Magpie. Dunstan refuses to talk, eat, or drink, and eventually, Tommy decides that he must return to the fair to find Bridget. The afternoon and evening pass, and finally, the moon rises. Dunstan returns to the meadow, wondering what it would be like to keep going into the forest beyond. He hoots twice, and the young woman appears and teases him. They sit on the grass and discuss the stars. She explains that she wants her freedom, and that her silver chain is made of “cat’s breath and fish-scales and moonlight mixed in with the silver.” She misses home. Dunstan realizes the woman is crying, and awkwardly, he kisses her. They have passionate sex, and she doesn’t let him pull out. Then, they lie together until it’s nearly dawn. The woman kisses Dunstan and sends him back to Wall.

Tommy proposes to Bridget two weeks later. A week after that, Mrs. Hempstock has tea with Mrs. Thorn. Mrs. Hempstock says that Daisy is pining because Dunstan has been ignoring her. Mrs. Thorn admits that she and her husband are worried about Dunstan, as he’s been “mooning.” They think he just needs to settle down. The women decide that Mr. Hempstock will provide a flock of sheep to the new couple, and Dunstan and Daisy marry in June. The fathers plan to build the couple a farmhouse, and the mothers lament that Dunstan wouldn’t let Daisy wear the snowdrop he gave her. Dunstan and Daisy are mostly happy, and Dunstan slowly comes back to himself.

At the end of February, someone pushes a basket through the gap in the wall. The guards don’t notice until the baby in the basket starts wailing. Pinned to the baby’s blankets is a name, Tristran Thorn.