Ways To Disappear

"Idra Novey’s smart, beguilingly playful debut novel is a fast-paced noirish literary mystery that explores the way a writer’s words can both hide and reveal deep truths. When Beatriz Yagoda, a famously unpredictable, cigar-smoking, 60-something Brazilian writer goes missing, her devoted young American translator drops everything — including a suffocatingly dull boyfriend — to fly down to Rio to search for her. In the process, the young woman finds adventure, danger, unexpected love, long-buried secrets, and lessons about both the importance of close reading and what makes a satisfying life."