The Woman Who Looked Like Sophia L.: An Epistolary Email Romanza

With the lyrical joy and lighthearted wordplay that have won him critical acclaim, celebrated Jewish author Curt Leviant delivers a charming literary love story against the backdrop of the lush Italian countryside Successful author Giorgio is vacationing in Parma when he meets Sofia, a beautiful woman who bears a striking resemblance to the famous Italian actress Sophia Loren. Giorgio is ecstatic when the lookalike asks for his email, expressing her desire to stay in touch and discuss a problem of hers. To his disappointment, their communication consists not of their own budding romance, but of the details of Sofia’s extramarital love affair, a drama that plays out with characters Giorgio has never met. Sofia consults the author in writing an ending to her story—and as authors do, Giorgio rewrites it, desperate to find a place for himself in it.   In this enticing email romanza, Leviant delivers a breathless confessional with two beginnings and two endings, leaving it up to the reader to decipher what’s real.