{"product_id":"speaking-to-no-4-9781734537970","title":"Speaking to No. 4","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom America to France and Eastern Europe to Japan, this quest for a woman who has disappeared is a psychological mystery and an architectural odyssey in one. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eWhere is Alma? A future husband--No. 4--is desperately seeking his fiancée, who has disappeared. To locate her, he is interviewing her three former husbands, her sister, and ex sister-in-law. Could she be hiding in a French monastery? A Japanese shukubo (temple lodging)? Or maybe she is the victim of a belief in a Balkan creation myth? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten in six voices that come together in a seamless and often comical narrative, \u003ci\u003eSpeaking to No. 4\u003c\/i\u003e is both a psychological mystery and a meditation on our construction of space. As husband No. 3, the Architect, says to husband-to-be No. 4, \"Think of Japanese space as a novel in which the main character is absent.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlta Ifland \u003c\/b\u003ewas born in Romania, took part in the overthrow of Romania's communist dictatorship, and emigrated to the United States in 1991. Her books include \u003ci\u003eThe Wife Who Wasn't \u003c\/i\u003e(New Europe Books), \u003ci\u003eElegy for a Fabulous World\u003c\/i\u003e (2010 finalist for the Northern California Book Award in Fiction), and \u003ci\u003eDeath-in-a-Box\u003c\/i\u003e (2011 Subito Press Fiction Prize). After many years in California, she lives currently in France.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"New Europe Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51180980896018,"sku":"9781734537970","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_37010cfc-8fd5-48c1-b294-6cc09b49d79d.jpg?v=1744388013","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/speaking-to-no-4-9781734537970","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}