Countries of Lost Things

COUNTRIES OF LOST THINGS tells the story of Francesca Baker, mother of two in New York City’s East Village, and her husband David

Kohen, a writer spiraling into grief and depression.  Fran unwittingly yearns for a lost inner life.  She becomes entranced by her husband’s former girlfriend, Aleksandra Danilovna Shilova (“Dani”), a beautiful Russian, and, with perilous consequences, entangles herself in a series of deceits.  Fran impulsively follows Dani, once and then again.  Soon after, she meets Tristan—handsome, cunning, and free—a young man from her husband David’s past.  David plots a trip back to Russia, his memories, history, and imagination growing more potent than daily reality, while Fran slips further away.

What happens when the desire for escape—lived through the pages of a book, or through one’s own thoughts and haphazard actions—takes on a momentum of its own?  Present and past, fantasy and truth, collide, remaking Francesca and David’s lives.

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“Secrets are the fertilizer for despair.”

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“The truth is neither simple nor clear
   you say…”

– Carol Muske-Dukes, Sparrow

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More on COUNTRIES OF LOST THINGS…

“A walk through Grand Central“

“Memory as moving target“

“Antidepressants—and Sex & Motherhood—in the News“

“Witness—the Holocaust, suicide, and memory (coincidence redux)“