Stars are a recurring motif throughout the novel, most often associated with Luba. While her birth name means “Love,” the name she takes at the end of the story, Lyra, is borrowed from a celestial constellation. Stars are a symbol of both hope in times of darkness and of intellectual ambition, as she makes it a priority from a very young age to learn about the celestial sphere.

The first mention of stars comes in the prologue, told from Luba’s perspective when she’s a very young girl. Eliza and Sofya bring her to a planetarium near the Eiffel Tower so she can see the stars spread across the sky in a controlled, heightened space. Although she is initially distrustful of Sofya and Eliza’s friendship, seeing Eliza as a rival for her sister’s attention, this act of kindness and sorority ultimately brings them together as a family: “As we lay there, the celestial world playing above us, it struck me that I had never lost my sister. Just acquired a spectacular new one” (4). Later, Luba finds a way to repay Sofya for this gift when she recreates the night sky on her ceiling with cut out bits of

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