LETRAS

Anzu acaba de modelar y hornear un delicado jarrón de arcilla. Está satisfecha, lo exhibirá en su próxima exposición, y, como su forma le recuerda la de una campanilla, lo llama Suzuran. Porque Anzu es una joven y reputada ceramista consagrada al mundo de la loza tradicional japonesa. Está divorciada, vive con su hijo preadolescente y, por más que le insistan sus amigas, no quiere volver a enamorarse. Su apacible vida cotidiana, en una ciudad junto al mar del Japón y al pie del monte Daisen, se ve alterada de pronto cuando su hermana mayor, Kyoko, anuncia que tiene novio y que va a casarse. Lo cierto es que la relación entre las dos hermanas no es muy estrecha; en realidad, sus personalidades son casi opuestas. Y Kyoko viajará en breve desde Tokio para presentar a su prometido a toda la familia.

What if you were lost at sea…with your one-night stand? Zeke and Lexi thought it would just be a night of fun. They had no intentions of seeing each other again. Zeke is only in town for the weekend to buy back his late father’s houseboat. Lexi has no time for dating when she needs to help take care of her best friend's daughter. Going back home with a stranger seems like a perfect escape from their problems. But a miscommunication in the dark, foggy night means no one tied the houseboat to the dock. The next morning, Zeke and Lexi realize all they can see is miles and miles of water.

he millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of compromise which operate at the heart of modern marriages. In Towles’s novel, Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September, 1938, with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, “Eve in Hollywood” describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself—and others—in the midst of Hollywood’s golden age. Throughout the stories, two characters often find themselves sitting across a table for two where the direction of their futures may hinge upon what they say to each other next. Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles’s canon of stylish and transporting historical fiction.