Jepp, Who Defied the Stars

"This highly unusual story about a highly unusual hero will also feel like *your* story. Few of us are imprisoned dwarfs, but all of us want to guide our own lives." -Jonathan Safran Foer, *New York Times* best-selling author of *Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close*

Fate: Is it written in the stars from the moment we are born? Or is it a bendable thing that we can shape with our own hands?

Jepp of Astraveld needs to know. He left his countryside home on the empty promise of a stranger, only to become a captive in a luxurious prison: Coudenberg Palace, the royal court of the Spanish Infanta. Nobody warned Jepp that as a court dwarf, daily injustices would become his seemingly unshakable fate. If the humiliations were his alone, perhaps he could endure them; but it breaks Jepp's heart to see his friend Lia suffer. After Jepp and Lia attempt a daring escape from the palace, Jepp is imprisoned again, alone in a cage. Now, spirited across Europe in a kidnapper's carriage, Jepp fears where his unfortunate stars may lead him. But he can't even begin to imagine the brilliant and eccentric new master-a man devoted to uncovering the secrets of the stars-who awaits him. Or the girl who will help him mend his heart and unearth the long-buried secrets of his past. Masterfully written, grippingly paced, and inspired by real histori-cal characters, *Jepp, Who Defied the Stars* is the tale of an extraordinary hero and his inspiring quest to become the master of his own destiny.