“The femme fatale in Alta Ifland’s likably offbeat Speaking to No. 4 is Alma, who has skipped out on her fiancé for parts unknown. Her jilted lover can’t feign too much surprise: He’s known as No. 4.... Speaking to No. 4 is billed as an 'architectural odyssey' and, indeed, Ifland pays particular attention to the buildings where Alma stages each seduction and betrayal. 'Monasteries and temples are created on the premise that our inner and exterior spaces are a continuation of each other,' No. 3 explains, and in a similar sense the home of a married couple reflects the characteristics of that marriage, whether as a place of light and open views or a prison of walls. As this witty and ironical book is keen to remind us, the most glorious cathedral is also a tomb.” —Wall Street Journal
“A novel of international intrigue.... As Alta Ifland reveals Alma's life through the lens of very different players in it who operate in different countries and cultures, readers receive a delightful interplay between psychological encounters and intrigue that both keeps them guessing and sheds light on the possibilities surrounding Alma's disappearance in each man's life.... Readers who enjoy blends of satire, psychological inspection, and wry humor—all cemented by a form of intrigue that assumes an unusual world- and ego-hopping venture—will relish the literary devices and insights that pair revelation with entertainment. Libraries seeking contemporary fiction that excels in both literary presentation and psychological inspection will find Speaking to No. 4 highly recommended for the fiction reader seeking something different, as well as for book clubs that like deeper stories of relationships and their social and philosophical ripples.” —D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“A strange, funny, and completely original novel. Ifland is a master satirist, an elegant plotter, and, at heart, a philosopher who brings international flair to her work.” —Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Portable Veblen, longlisted for the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction
“A highly imaginative, cunningly plotted world tour of a novel in search
of its elusive heroine, the soul (appropriately named Alma). Its explorations
of the interconnected realms of storytelling and desire will keep readers
ensnared right up to the unexpected conclusion.” —Carolyn Burke,
author of No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf and Foursome
"I found myself reading many sentences and passages several times over, wanting to savor them. The prose is so very good, so pleasing in its rhythms and cadences, but also, more importantly, in the rigor and depth conveyed. Speaking to No. 4 is a novel of ideas—something rare enough, these days—served up by articulate, thoughtful characters: an intellectual feast. You know you're in good novelistic hands when the metaphors and motifs all cohere and accrue, when they generate and earn compound interest. Intelligent and intellectual, but not cold. There is great heart in it."
—Peter Selgin, author of Duplicity and Drowning Lessons, winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction
“I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The premise is engaging and does not disappoint. While it is character-driven, the action moves at a steady pace as it becomes clear to No. 4 how little he actually knew about his fiancée.” —Julie Borden, Reedsy.com/discovery
PRAISE FOR ALTA IFLAND’S PREVIOUS BOOK, THE WIFE WHO WASN’T
“This comedy of errors is a page-turner, where a mail-order bride service, enough love triangles to boggle the mind, a stolen Egon Schiele painting, and a devastating fire lead the worlds of Santa Barbara and Chișinău to collide.” —Los Angeles Review of Books
“I enjoyed Alta Ifland's novel very much. A satirical comedy in the vein of Ilf and Petrov, The Wife Who Wasn’t is full of well-drawn and totally believable characters with only enough of a caricatural touch to make them vivid and interesting. Ifland certainly gets the Moldovans down and Santa Barbara too; I know these people. I read every page with pleasure and look forward to the sequel: Tania and Irina after the escape.” —Andrei Codrescu, author of the bestselling The Blood Countess and no time like now, commentator for National Public Radio
