On a Night of a Thousand Stars

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.