Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, March 1, 2022

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

In this moving, emotional narrative of love and resilience, a young couple confronts the start of Argentina’s Dirty War in the 1970s, and a daughter searches for truth twenty years later.

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.

My Review:

Thank you Grand Central Publishing for the copy of the book.
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Read if you like: multiple perspectives and timelines.
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Going back and forth between 1998 and Argentina’s military dictatorship, Paloma learns of her father’s involvement in helping people escape the dictatorship. This leads her to want to learn more about her father’s past. Then in the past, we get to read about her father’s, Santiago, experiences leading up to and during the turbulent times.
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This is a topic I don’t know a ton about so I loved reading about Santiago’s and Valentina’s experiences. I loved the mystery element to the book as well!
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CW: death of a loved one, pregnancy, miscarriage, torture, imprisonment.