"Within the tradition of polished verse, Mirela Roznoveanu has accomplished an astonishing marriage of Romantic elements. The elegance of Brecht and Rilke converses with the occasional surrealism of Rimbaud, flavored by a Baudelairian melancholy which moves the reader between the streets of New York City and ancient landscapes both historical and mythological. A good portion of the text is translated from the Romanian, and these especially seem masterfully rendered. At a time when formalist experimentation dominates much of the poetic scene, it is wonderful to have a collection that reaffirms...

In Mirela Roznoveanu's new book of fiction, human love is everywhere but strangely hard to find. Love animates a world where the tangled web of sexuality, commitment, language, place, and history enthralls us with its tantalizing detours, its cruel pretenders, and its unexpected pleasures.

These tumultuous pages introduce us to people we can instantly recognize and never forget. From adventures that vividly signal a lifetime's meaning each returns with something new--something utterly different from that which was sought.

Here in her first major work in English, we find the pulsing,...