Welcome friend! Ariel and I mentioned On a Night of a Thousand Stars by Andrea Yaryura Clark in our Backlist Bingo update for July. Today, we bring your a short discussion about the book.
Andrea Yaryura Clark | Goodreads
New York, 1998. Santiago Larrea, a wealthy Argentine diplomat, is holding court alongside his wife, Lila, and their daughter, Paloma, a college student and budding jewelry designer, at their annual summer polo match and soiree. All seems perfect in the Larreas’ world—until an unexpected party guest from Santiago’s university days shakes his usually unflappable demeanor. The woman’s cryptic comments spark Paloma’s curiosity about her father’s past, of which she knows little.
When the family travels to Buenos Aires for Santiago’s UN ambassadorial appointment, Paloma is determined to learn more about his life in the years leading up to the military dictatorship of 1976. With the help of a local university student, Franco Bonetti, an activist member of H.I.J.O.S.—a group whose members are the children of the desaparecidos, or the “disappeared,” men and women who were forcibly disappeared by the state during Argentina’s “Dirty War”—Paloma unleashes a chain of events that not only leads her to question her family and her identity, but also puts her life in danger.
In compelling fashion, On a Night of a Thousand Stars speaks to relationships, morality, and identity during a brutal period in Argentinian history, and the understanding—and redemption—people crave in the face of tragedy.
Content notes include torture, violence, murder, abduction, infertility, confinement, infidelity, miscarriage, rape, sexual content.
On a Night of a Thousand Stars – Discussion
Kriti: It is so good to pick up a book that has been on our TBRs for a few years! Told in two timelines and perspectives, the 1998 timeline is from Paloma’s point of view. She lives with her parents in America and occasionally visits their home country of Argentina. In the 1970s, the perspective is that of her father, Santiago, and how he ended up moving with his family to the US.
Ariel: We knew this book was going to be a powerful and difficult read at times, and it was great to finally pick it up! I had some previous knowledge about the political unrest in South America during the 70s, but I had never read a historical fiction that centered around this time before. Many of the historical references led me to read my own further research about the era and the various political powers at play, and being able to discuss those along the way made the buddy read feel more meaningful.
I arrived at this book with little knowledge about the history of South America so there were lots of new things to learn. I enjoy buddy reads where one or both of us is searching up the historical events and matching what was happening in the book to the news and articles online.
Paloma was in her early 20s, a university-going student when her trip to Argentina got her curious about her father’s past. He never talked to her about it and finding that suspicious, she started to look for clues to his past life. After researching in old archives in Argentina, talking to people who remembered the 1970s and thought highly of her father, she eventually came in touch with an activist group, trying to connect children from the war times to their families.
The theme of generational trauma felt ever present as Paloma digs into the mysteries of her father’s experiences twenty years prior. His unwillingness to talk about it reflected his own hurt and uncertainties that we saw during his POVs. Her connections with the activists connected her to a larger narrative that spoke to the long-lasting effects of the state’s violence, and the reader grew in their understanding alongside Paloma.
I am glad that this book has two perspectives from different timelines. Santiago’s perspective added context and details to the atrocities he saw and challenges he faced. Though Paloma learned about parts of these in her search for the truth, her personal hurt did not allow her the grace to truly understand where her parents were coming from in my opinion. This speaks to her young age and overall fits well with her story arc.
Overall, like most historical fiction we have read together, this was a good one to chat about. It expanded our knowledge of the history of the world. I wonder which country we will read about next.
After both deciding to buddy read this back in 2022, it was a great feeling of accomplishment to be able to finally read this together. It was so worth it!!!
Thanks for reading our discussion! Let us know what you think of this book! Add On a Night of a Thousand Stars to your Goodreads shelf if you wish!
Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for providing us a review copy for our honest thoughts.
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