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recommend our foreign visitors spend the final moments of their day in Entralla, at Café Louis. There, as I also once mentioned, amongst the regular clientele, you are likely to see two nervous men. One is older, he is tall and podgy and anxious, and he is Jonas Lutt. The other, shorter and with more grey in his hair, claims part authorship of this book. We are waiting there every night, happy to answer any questions you may have or merely to drink a beer or a brandy with you. If, however, readers of this book have purchased it in their own countries, far from Entralla—for books sometimes, and guidebooks in particular, have a habit of travelling and being found in a country many thousands of miles from their original homes—yes, maybe you are visiting us having travelled no further than the distance from a book shop to your sitting room, if that is the case I do not hesitate to say to you: ‘Please come to us, please do come.’

EDWARD CAREY’S first novel was the critically acclaimed Observatory Mansions, one of the three finalists for Barnes & Noble’s “Discover Great New Writers” Award. Carey is also an illustrator, sculptor and playwright whose work has been produced in London, Lithuania and Romania. Carey lives in London, England.

VINTAGE CANADA EDITION 2004

Copyright © 2003 Edward Carey

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published in Canada by Vintage Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in 2003 by Random House Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, and simultaneously in the United States by Harcourt, Inc., and in the United Kingdom by Picador, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd.

Distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited.

Vintage Canada and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House of Canada Limited.

www.randomhouse.ca

Photographs by Tom Langdon

Excerpt from Cavafy’s “The City” © Harcourt, Inc.

Used by permission.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Carey, Edward, 1970–

Alva & Ivra / Edward Carey.

eISBN: 978-0-307-36862-1

I. Title. II. Title: Alva and Irva.

PR6053.A67A64 2004 823.′92 C2003-905684-8

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