Astronomy, politics, and romance join forces in this novel from the writer John Updike has called "one of the most interesting American novelists at work."

It's the spring of 1877 in Washington, D.C., and at the U.S. Naval Observatory, Hugh Allison has conceived a secret ambition: to project an image through time and space. But his plan takes on urgent life only when the mathematically gifted Cynthia May enters his orbit as one of the observatory's human "computers." A Civil War widow whose beauty has been shadowed by worry and poverty, Cynthia reluctantly falls in love with the younger Hugh, who missed the war that has haunted her life. But the fate of their love affair -- and of Hugh's heavenly vision -- may be out of their hands, decided instead by an astrologer and by the actions of a dangerously magnetic politician who wields his power over a Senate convulsed by Reconstruction and a wildly disputed presidential election.

Masterfully combining historical detail and startling invention, Thomas Mallon gives us a galvanizing story of earthly heartbreak and otherworldly triumph.

• We started tracking this book on December 4, 2015.
• This book was £10.71 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 44 times in the past 3,059 days.
• The current price of this book is £2.99 last checked 23 hours ago.
• The lowest price to date was £2.99 last reached on December 11, 2022.
• This book has been £2.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was £14.24 last reached on October 5, 2016.
• This book has been £14.24 2 times since we started tracking it.
• This book is currently at its lowest price since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionWorld Literature

• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 322 Pages
• File Size: 3,675 KB