Introduction

It is the autumn of 1940, one year into the German occupation of Poland. In a small mining village in Upper Silesia, Gracian Sofka is fifteen years old.

The past year he has been risking his skin, making expeditions into the forest after curfew to gaze at the stars. By the time six months have passed, Gracian will have journeyed twice more into the forest, the German army will be on the French Atlantic coast, the constellations will have followed their secret paths across the universe, and Pawel, Gracian's beloved elder brother, will be dead.