{"product_id":"four-by-four-9781948830140","title":"Four by Four","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"In \u003ci\u003eFour by Four\u003c\/i\u003e, Mesa's sentences are clear as glass, but when you look through you will be terrified by what you see.\"--Laura van den Berg, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Third Hotel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSet entirely at Wybrany College--a school where the wealthy keep their kids safe from the chaos erupting in the cities--\u003ci\u003eFour by Four\u003c\/i\u003e is a novel of insinuation and gossip, in which the truth about Wybrany's \"program\" is always palpable, but never explicit. The mysteries populating the novel open with the disappearance of one of the \"special,\" scholarship students. As the first part unfolds, it becomes clear that all is not well in Wybrany, and that something more sordid lurks beneath the surface.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the second part--a diary written by an imposter who has infiltrated the school as a substitute teacher--the eerie sense of what's happening in this space removed from society, becomes even more acute and sinister.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn exploration of the relationship between the powerful and powerless--and the repetition of these patterns--Mesa's \"sophisticated nightmare\" calls to mind great works of gothic literature (think Shirley Jackson) and social thrillers to create a unique, unsettling view of freedom and how a fear of the outside world can create monsters.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSara Mesa is the author of eight works of fiction, including \u003ci\u003eScar\u003c\/i\u003e (winner of the Ojo Critico Prize), \u003ci\u003eFour by Four\u003c\/i\u003e (a finalist for the Herralde Prize), \u003ci\u003eAn Invisible Fire\u003c\/i\u003e (winner of the Premio Málaga de Novela), and \u003ci\u003eCara de Pan\u003c\/i\u003e. Her works have been translated into more than ten different languages, and has been widely praised for her concise, sharp writing style. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Katie Whittemore is a graduate of the University of NH (BA), Cambridge University (M.Phil), and Middlebury College (MA), and was a 2018 Bread Loaf Translators Conference participant. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in \u003ci\u003eTwo Lines\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Arkansas International\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Common Online\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGulf Coast Magazine Online\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Brooklyn Rail\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eInTranslation\u003c\/i\u003e. Current projects include novels by Spanish authors Sara Mesa, Javier Serena, and Aliocha Coll, Aroa Moreno Durán, and Nuria Labari.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Open Letter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50650818052370,"sku":"9781948830140","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_fd7f33c8-2922-4b5e-9a80-1ce07b06d833.jpg?v=1733296313","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/four-by-four-9781948830140","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}