Night of a Thousand Stars

New York, 1998. Santiago Larrea, a wealthy Argentinian diplomat, is the centre of attention at the annual post-polo match soirée, alongside his wife, Lilia, and their daughter, Paloma, a university student and budding jewellery designer. In the Larreas’ world, everything seems perfect – until a woman Santiago knows from his university days unexpectedly appears at the party, shattering his usual composure. The woman's cryptic remarks awaken Paloma’s curiosity about her father’s past, of which she knows very little.

When the family travels to Buenos Aires for Santiago’s appointment as ambassador to the UN, Paloma is determined to learn more about his life in the years leading up to the military dictatorship that began in 1976. With the help of a local university student, Franco, a member of the activist group HIJOS – whose members are the children of the desaparecidos, or “the disappeared,” men and women who were forcibly abducted by the state during Argentina’s Dirty War – Paloma sets off a chain of events that will not only make her question her family and her identity, but also put her life in danger.

Translated by Zdenka Lišková.