On a Night of a Thousand Stars

January 24, 2022
Yaryura Clark’s stirring if uneven debut sheds light on the atrocities committed by the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance during the Dirty War, from 1974–1983. A drunken serenade in Argentina during the summer of ’73 is enough to transcend class differences and ignite the spark between rich law student Santiago Larrea, who’s keen to inherit his family’s agriculture and estate business, and middle-class Valentina Quintero, who came to Buenos Aires to study architecture. Fast-forward to 1998, and Santiago is in New York City, soon to be appointed ambassador to the U.S.; he’s married to another woman, and they have a daughter named Paloma. After Paloma meets a former colleague of Santiago’s who shares details about Valentina, Paloma is moved to find out more about her father. With the help of an activist seeking justice for the family members of the desaparecidos, she delves into Argentina’s and her family’s tumultuous history. Santiago’s vacillation between Lila and Valentina can sometimes overshadow the political intrigue, and the author devotes too much time to Santiago’s messy love life. Paloma’s determination to dig up her past and the haunting accounts of the victims of a cruel regime, though, will take readers by storm. Magnetic and revelatory, this one is imperfect if hard to put down. Agent: Johanna V. Castillo, Writers House.

December 1, 2021

DEBUT In her vividly rendered debut, Clark uses fiction to explore what happened to the children of the estimated 30,000 individuals who were disappeared, tortured, and killed during Argentina's Dirty War in the 1970s. Paloma, the U.S.-born daughter of wealthy Argentine businessman-turned-diplomat Santiago Larrea, is visiting Argentina with her extended family in the late 1990s when she begins learning about these children. A chance discovery tying her father to the author Mart�n Torres has led her to the Human Rights Center, where she encounters the determined young Franco and is introduced to H.I.J.O.S., an acronym for Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice Against Oblivion and Silence. (Herself from an Argentine family but partly U.S.-raised, Clark also returned to Argentina in the 1990s and began learning about these children while working as a television producer.) Paloma must now take a closer look at her own history, and as the narrative cuts swiftly between the 1970s and the 1990s, she discovers shocking truths about her father, his activities during the Dirty War, and a woman he loved named Valentina, whose gutsiness nicely mirrors Paloma's own. VERDICT Both heartbreaking and race-to-the-end suspenseful, as secrets will out that starkly reveal the tragedy of Argentina's Dirty War.--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

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January 15, 2022
Paloma Larrea, the 21-year-old daughter of wealthy Argentinian diplomat Santiago Larrea, uncovers a life-altering family secret as she investigates her father's past. During a party at her parents' summer home in the Hamptons, Paloma meets Grace de Graaf (nee D�az), a friend of her father's from college. Grace starts to tell Paloma how Santiago saved many people in the 1970s during Argentina's military dictatorship, but he cuts her off. Intrigued by this encounter, Paloma searches for more information when she and her family travel to Argentina for Santiago's installation as ambassador to the United Nations. Alternating between Paloma's investigation in 1998 and Santiago's life in the years leading up to Argentina's 1976 coup, the book is inspired by the author's interviews with the children of disappeared persons when she was a TV producer in the 1990s, highlighting human rights violations such as kidnapping, illegal adoptions, and torture. Although "a tenet of the Larrea family was appearing neutral and staying above the fray when it came to Argentina's topsy-turvy politics," Santiago finds himself entangled because of a political-dissident friend and socially conscious lover he tries to protect. Paloma, who was raised in New York, learns of the atrocities of the '70s when she meets Franco Bonetti, who's part of an activist group of "children of the desaparecidos or people whose parents were political prisoners or lived in exile during the dictatorship." He helps her track down people and resources that reveal the secret her father's been hiding. In seeking to learn more about him, Paloma unearths information that alters her own life in ways she could have never imagined. A skillful debut which serves as a reminder that a country's past can never be left in the past.

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February 1, 2022
College student Paloma Larrea comes from a world of wealth and privilege. In 1998, her father, Santiago, is named Argentina's ambassador to the United Nations. At the party to celebrate this news, Paloma meets Grace, a college friend of her father's. Grace makes an offhand remark about the past, and Santiago's caginess on the topic sends Paloma on a quest, which leads her to discover secrets about what happened during Argentina's Dirty War. Back in 1973, law student Santiago tries to stay away from the volatile political scene. He is more interested in parties, polo, and women. At one such party, he meets Valentina, and they fall madly in love. Their passionate romance is tested by the increased danger posed by the government, the military, and the police, and Santiago must decide if he is more than a playboy. Shifting from Paloma in 1998 to Santiago in the 1970s, Clark's debut novel is a compelling story of a time and place that might not be well known to American readers as well as a heartbreaking narrative of generational trauma. Recommended for all public library collections.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2022

Between 9,000 and 300,000 Argentinians were killed or disappeared between 1976 and 1983, when Argentina's military dictatorship waged a brutal campaign against students, writers, artists, or anyone that the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance deemed left-leaning or even left-associated. Los desaparecidos, or the disappeared ones, provides the backdrop to Argentinian Clark's debut novel, about Paloma Larrea and her family. The narrative jumps between Paloma's present in 1998 and her father's past in the early 1970s. Listeners may wish that some details ran on a more natural timeline, but the overall story is sound and enjoyable. Paula Christensen provides a pleasant narration with credible Argentinian accents; this was an interesting editorial choice, since the characters mostly speak Spanish to each other and would not need an accent. However, this does provide an appropriate air. VERDICT There is a minimum of character voicing, and listeners may feel as though a friend or coworker is relating Clark's story to them. Christensen's voice is quite pleasant and brings out the horror of a dark time in Argentinian history.--Laura Trombley

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.