A large, lavishly inventive novel . . . an American descendant of The Arabian Nights . . . erudite and artful entertainment.

At a Manhattan planetarium in 1965, ten-year-old Enzo is whisked away from his young adoptive aunt, Mala. His abductor turns out to be a blood relative: his great-uncle Junius Samax, a wealthy former gambler who lives in a converted Las Vegas hotel surrounded by a priceless art collection and a host of fascinating, idiosyncratic guests. In Samaxs magical world, Enzo receives a unique education and pieces together the mystery of his mothers life and the complicated history of his adoption. Back in New York, Mala only knows that Enzo has disappeared. After a yearlong search proves fruitless, she enlists in the Navy Nursing Corps and on a hospital ship off Vietnam falls in love with a wounded B-52 navigator, who disappears on his next mission. Devastated again, Mala embarks on a restless, adventurous journey around the world, hoping to overcome the losses that have transformed her life.

Fusing imagination, scholarship, and suspense with remarkable narrative skill, Nicholas Christopher builds a story of tremendous scope, an epic tale of love and destiny, as he traces the intricate latticework of Malas and Enzos lives. Each remains separate from each other but tied in ways they cannot imagineuntil the final miraculous chapter of this extraordinary novel.

A writer of remarkable gifts.

This labyrinthine novel . . . is animated by an encompassing lust for beauty.

[Nicholas] Christopher is North Americas Garca Mrquez; Borges with emotional weight. . . . This is one of those rare books that, by connecting the stars, catches you in its web.

Includes an excerpt of Nicholas Christophers