Ways to Disappear

Idra Novey

This playful novel begins with an author’s disappearance from a park — specifically, from up an almond tree — in Rio de Janeiro. Along the way to solving the mystery, there’s a coming-of-age vibe, a family story, lots to say about art, and a bit of a thriller.

Back in the day, Beatriz Yagoda was one of Brazil’s most famous authors. But she’s 60 now and not the talk of the town she once was. With a suitcase in hand and a cigar in her mouth, she climbs an almond tree, has a chat with someone, and… vanishes.

Five days later, the author’s American translator Emma is beginning to worry about Beatriz. A call to the author’s daughter elicits no response, so Emma does the only reasonable thing: She packs a bag, books a flight, and heads to Rio.

However, people being the complicated beings they are, it’s unclear what Emma’s true intent might be. Is she off to Rio because she’s worried about Beatrix? Yes. But is she also avoiding the issues in her own life? Also yes. And is she aware she’s doing that? Most probably not. One of the delights of this novel is that it’s written so we, the wise readers, are aware the characters’ motivations, even when they might not be.

On the ground in Rio, teamed up with Beatriz’s adult children, Emma begins her search for the missing author. Rest assured, they find plenty of (entertaining) trouble together. It’s quickly revealed that Beatriz had secrets she shared with no one. Those secrets left her with significant debt — and angry, armed people in her wake.

Author Idra Novey is very good at expressing subtle feelings, like the dream-like quality of traveling to someplace new — how pleasant and alarming that can be. Or the ways we fool ourselves: ‘I’m aware of that possibility,’ Emma said, ‘though in truth she was aware of it only the way a person might hear a faint rumble of thunder on a dry day and find its menacing sound exciting without believing there was any real reason to go inside.’

Novey has a lot to say about the spirit of translation and the relationship between an author and a translator. She is, herself, a translator and poet, and called this book ‘a thriller with some theories about translation.’

That’s true, and it’s much more. It’s a fun romp, a fascinating look at art, an appreciation of language, and an affecting adventure.

Over rice and beans in front of the TV, the Portuguese translator Emma Neufeld told her boyfriend that she was nervous. Her author hadn’t answered her emails in over a week.

Miles told her she spent too much time fretting over unanswered emails. His preferred subject of late was when they might get married, and whether they had to invite everyone in their Road Runners group. He said he was leaning toward an outside venue regardless.

Emma, on the other hand, was leaning toward never.

She had yet to express this. — Idra Novey

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