The stars can wait : a novel /

For 15-year-old Gracian, the rewards of stargazing outweigh the considerable risk he takes by breaking curfew in 1940s, German-occupied Poland. The stars provide Gracian with respite from his dreary days at the coal mine and the constant clashes between his mother and his volatile older brother, Pawel, whose secret life is a constant source of worry for the teenager. What does his brother do when he disappears for days on end? How did he really lose several fingers on his one hand? In seeking answers to these questions, Gracian unknowingly helps set in motion a chain of events that will result in tragedy. Basu, a recent Cambridge grad and first-time novelist, offers a sad but beautiful coming-of-age tale set against the devastating effect of war on families strained almost to the breaking point. The understated, lyrical prose mirrors the constant, low-grade anxiety characteristic of a wartime existence away from the front lines. --Beth Warrell

A young Polish boy with a passion for stargazing and astronomy tries to cope with the ramifications of his older brother's erratic behavior in Basu's poignant debut novel, which takes place during WWII in a small village in historically riven Silesia, at the beginning of the Nazi occupation of Poland. Gracian S"fka is the 15-year-old protagonist, a dreamer who manages to endure his days laboring in a coal mine by wandering out into the woods at night to watch the stars, despite the constant presence of Nazi guards who could kill him. His older brother, Pawel, finds more direct ways to deal with the enemy, starting with his stint in the Polish army, during which he loses a couple of fingers fighting against the Germans. Pawel is equally belligerent with his own family, beating up his brother-in-law after eluding a prison sentence for smuggling. The turning point in the relationship between the brothers comes when Pawel gives Gracian a telescope to pursue his hobby. The boy also uses the instrument to spy on Pawel's courtship with the most beautiful girl in the village as well as his brother's maneuverings with the local underground. Basu is a lyrical writer, painting an eloquent picture of two brothers who are polar opposites as he traces Pawel's inevitable descent against the inexorable rise of the Nazis. There are many familiar elements to this WWII parable, but what is relatively rare is the power and craft of Basu's portrayal as he examines the impact of war on a family as seen through the eyes of a sensitive and precocious adolescent. Author tour. (Feb. 5) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Tensions are building within and without the Sofka home in 1940 Poland. The German threat is everywhere, and renegade son Pawel is restless, angry, and involved in dangerous undercover work. His 15-year-old brother, Gracian, who dutifully works in the coal mines to help support their widowed mother, their sister, and her family, seeks solace by feeding his passion for astronomy, stargazing late at night in the nearby forest. Pawel furiously puts a stop to these forays, afraid for his young brother's safety, and attempts to soothe the boy's despair with the gift of a telescope. It is not long before the Sofkas implode and Pawel is banished from the home. He joins his beloved fiance, Anna, leaving behind a bereft Gracian, whose longing for his brother's company gives way to curiosity, triggering a heartbreak that races toward tragedy. First-time novelist Basu offers up a rare honesty in storytelling that cuts to the soul. Highly recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/01.] Beth E. Andersen, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A first-time author's impressive lyric gift graces-but isn't enough to save-this simultaneously underimagined and overplotted debut set in a mining village in occupied Poland during WWII.. The protagonist and viewpoint character is Gracian Sofka, a 15-year-old "star-gazer" who works day-shifts at the colliery, and risks his life during late-night observations of celestial phenomena (in which he senses "a kind of opening. A chance for escape"). His "viewing place" dangerously close to a German army base, Gracian is bluntly reproved by his older brother Pawel, an unemployable malcontent who sometimes does and sometimes doesn't live with Gracian, their widowed mother, and their married sister's family. There is of course a mystery in Pawel's past, whose gradual resolution coincides with Gracian's understanding that, in a time of poverty and peril, "the stars can wait." Basu makes intermittently effective symbolic use of the telescope that Pawel (inexplicably) gives to his brother-a device that becomes an `eye" through which Gracian "sees" (or believes he sees) even past experiences otherwise unknown to him. The prose is hushed and rhythmic, featuring unusual usages ("sheen" as a verb, etc.) and images (such as the sight of shoes beside a bedroom chair, "both pointing a little sideward, as if soon to begin a journey of their own"). But Basu's first takes too long to develop a plot, then collapses into a series of stacked melodramatic climaxes, as Gracian wanders into immediate danger, draws gunfire, and precipitates several disasters concluded-as most readers will have anticipated -down in the mines. So much here feels forced and improbable that it's difficult to properly credit the delicacy with which the scenes have been shaped and rendered. Basu is a real stylist, but has yet to prove himself a novelist. Author tour