`Exquisite and deeply felt' VOGUE `Beautifully rendered' GRAZIA `Magnificent . melds sharp insight with great heart' NICOLA DINAN `Thoughtful and beautifully compelling' ALICE WINN A beautiful, heartbreaking novel about ambition, love and space from the award-winning author of the Women's Prize longlisted Wandering Souls. 28 January, 1986: Moments after launch, the Challenger shuttle falls from the sky. At the same time, in a small English village, Oliver Ines is born. Ollie spends his childhood in a bedroom covered in glow-in-the-dark wallpaper, bearing the planets and stars. Decades later, he has become one of the most renowned astronauts of his time. When an enterprising billionaire approaches him to lead a landmark, ten-year mission to the distant moon Europa, Ollie cannot resist the call of history. As the mission advances deeper into uncharted territory, Ollie finds himself retreating into the past: his school days and years in the Navy, relationships found and lost, becoming a husband and father. But will the world he remembers still be waiting for him when he returns? Celestial Lights is a breathtaking story of fate, love, and sacrifice that questions what we owe ourselves and our loved ones, when our ambitions and loyalties collide. `An affecting study of childhood romance hitting the brick wall of adult reality' JONATHAN COE, author of The Proof of My Innocence `Truly lovely . the scope of an epic' JO HAMYA, author of The Hypocrite `A wonderful and singular reading experience' JENNY MUSTARD, author of What A Time To Be Alive `Incredible . stayed with me long after the page' RED MAGAZINE `Atmospheric, original, and beautiful' ELA LEE, author of Minbak `Masterful . I was totally absorbed from start to finish' JYOTI PATEL, author of The Things That We Lost `A moving story that stays with you' ROMALYN ANTE, author of Agimat `Stunning, exhilarating and unforgettable' ELIANA RAMAGE, author of To the Moon and Back
