It's 1965, on a small island in the South Pacific, a group of astronomers gather to witness the passing of a comet, but when a young boy dies during a meteor shower, the lives of the scientists and their loved ones change in subtle yet profound ways. Andrew Sean Greer's remarkable and sweeping novel is an exploration into chances taken and lost, of love found and broken, and of time's gravitational pull on the lives of everyday and extraordinary people.