A magical, intoxicating debut novel, both intimate and epic, that intertwines the past, present, and future of two lovers bound by the passing of great comets overhead and a coterie of remarkable ancestors.

Roisin and Francois are immediately drawn to each other when they meet at a remote research base on the frozen ice sheets of Antarctica. At first glance, the pair could not be more different. Older by a few years, Roisin, a daughter of Ireland and a peripatetic astronomer, joins the science team to observe the fracturing of a comet overhead. Francois, the base's chef, has just...