Among the Hedges

PRAISE FOR SARA MESA

“With short, propulsive chapters, Sara Mesa creates an unforgettable gothic landscape, centered on the mysterious and menacing Wybrany College, that twists in ways that unsettle and thrill. In Four by Four, 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 The Third Hotel

“The atmospheric unraveling of the mystery will keep you turning the page; the ending will leave you stunned—Mesa’s Four by Four is a tautly written literary thriller that juxtaposes the innocence of children with the fetish of control; a social parable that warns against the silence of oppression and isolation through its disquieting, sparse prose.”

—Kelsey Westenberg, Seminary Co-op

“Stylistically, Four by Four’s narrative structure is both dazzling and dizzying, as its perfect pacing only enhances the metastasizing dread and dis-ease.… Mesa exposes the thin veneer of venerability to be hiding something menacing and unforgivable—and Four by Four lays it bare for all the world to see.”

—Jeremy Garber, Powell’s Books

“Very few authors evoke a visceral reaction with prose in the way that Sara Mesa does.… Four by Four sounds an alarm on the dangers of power, privilege, and the self-delusions told in order to hide complicity. A work of high gothic art, Four by Four solidifies Mesa as one of the strongest female voices in contemporary Spanish literature.”

—Cristina Rodriguez, Deep Vellum Books

“This is a linguistically precise, stylistically spare, and emotionally devastating look at the corrosive effect of abuse and power imbalance, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Samanta Schweblin.”

—Shelf Awareness, starred review

“Like Buñuel’s Exterminating Angel, or even Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, the rich are left rotting in a swamp of their own design.… Four by Four is an uncomfortably real look into the absurd world of the bourgeoisie. It is so complex and layered that, to reach a full understanding, one may have to read it two or even three times. Not a single character, after all, is what they seem.”

—Noelle Mcmanus, The Women’s Review of Books

“A meticulously constructed and chilling study of desire and influence.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Mesa presents a painful exploration of inequity, cruelty, and the immeasurable cost of belonging.”

—Terry Hong, Booklist

“The language is short and precise, as if from a dream, yet each character has a distinctive point of view, sometimes cold and distant, sometimes uncomfortably intimate.… Four by Four is a mystery among mysteries. Things are deeply wrong at Wybrany College, but it’s not clear-cut how to fix them. Each character must fight both their innate human tendencies and the forces acting against them, and as in the real world, the solutions are personal.”

—T. Patrick Ortez, World Literature Today

“Sara Mesa. Don’t forget that name. The finalist for the 30th Premio Herralde de Novela. Read it. Share it. Talk about it. Open the book and begin. You won’t be able to put it down.”