Set entirely at Wybrany College-a school where the wealthy keep their kids safe from the chaos erupting in the cities-Four by Four is a novel of insinuation and gossip, in which the truth about Wybrany's "program" is always palpable, but never explicit. The mysteries populating the novel open with the disappearance of one of the "special," scholarship students. As the first part unfolds, it becomes clear that all is not well in Wybrany, and that something more sordid lurks beneath the surface.
In the second part-a diary written by an imposter who has infiltrated the school as a substitute teacher-the eerie sense of what's happening in this space removed from society, becomes more acute and potentially sinister.
An exploration of the relationship between the powerful and powerless-and the repetition of these patterns-Mesa's "sophisticated nightmare" calls to mind great works of gothic literature (think Shirley Jackson) and social thrillers to create a unique, unsettling view of freedom and how a fear of the outside world can create monsters.
Industry Reviews
"Sara Mesa. Don't forget that name. The finalist for the XXXth 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."-Uxue, Un libro al dia
"Sara Mesa has brought a new narrative voice to the scene that is in a position to bear important fruit for the genre of the Spanish novel in the twenty first century. Already in Four by Four an author has been discovered with the capacity for artistic integration of different stylistic registers within the same novel and with a real talent for representing reality. Four by Four is an account of the sinister relationships of power corrupted by fear and latent violence that feed this social parable of Kafkian roots."-Angel Basanta, El Mundo
"What can I say about a story in which everything works? . . . A new author that will surprise us further in future."-Sergio Sancor, Libros y literatura
"Sara Mesa's prose has gradually strengthened, gaining depth and ambition, without abandoning her other inclinations: unsettling and oppressive atmospheres, characters powerless against the force of their destinies, and that which the author likes to call 'perverse utopias,' collective dreams condemned to failure again and again, burdened heavily by the community's worst instincts."-Alejandro Luque, Mercurio
"An original novel full of talent, an oppressive fable in which nothing is what it seems and in which its author shows herself to have some striking credentials: it is about somebody capable of creating a sophisticated nightmare using only one stroke of fine line."-Pablo Martinez Zarracina, Bilbao
"The book's action takes place in a boarding school . . . Sara Mesa uses this backdrop for her meditation on the relationships that are formed in closed spaces and the undercurrents of violence that generate hierarchy; in this case between students (the wealthy and those with scholarships), the teachers and the school management. On the outside there is danger, on the inside is protection, the rules, but there also exists evil . . . Secrets, class difference, abuse of power and the oppressive space are the common denominators of all the parts of this sordid tale, that to a certain extent reminds us of Elvira Navarro and which, upon finishing, leaves us ice cold and wanting more."-Alex Gil, Que Leer
"One of the most promising authors of today, who stands out among other virtues for her despairing vision and her talent for creating charged atmospheres, as well as her capacity for creating singular characters, frequently despicable to those who observe with malevolent humor not exempt of compassion."-Braulio Ortiz, Malaga Hoy
