Experiments in New Romanticism
By J.K. Franko
Introduction by John Farrell
A rollicking journey through time, place, and genre, exploring how writers, readers, lovers, and strangers attempt—and often fail—to communicate meaningfully with one another.
Publication Date: April 6th, 2027
Hardcover ISBN: 9781646054671
eBook ISBN: 9781646054688
Description
In J.K. Franko’s postmodern romp from Texas and Miami to 13th-century France and Spain’s Camino de Santiago, literature, language, and storytelling are serious business. A book club turns deadly; a story about an injured puppy has a horrific effect; a Scrabble obsession leads the narrator to crushing the SAT which leads to “college, a career, a life.”
In Love Letters, it’s difficult to know who holds the power. Is it the author? The critics? Or readers themselves? At once intellectually playful and emotionally serious, Love Letters stages an ongoing dialogue between writers, readers, critics, and fictional characters—gradually dissolving the boundaries separating them and asking: is literature merely language on a page, or an attempt by one consciousness to reach another across isolation and time?
Biographical Note
J.K. Franko is the author of the Talion trilogy (Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth, and Life for Life), the standalone thriller Killing Johnny Miracle, and the literary novel Love Letters. His novels have been published in Spanish translation by Grupo Planeta and Penguin Random House Spain. His first Spanish-language novel, Última Navidad en Madrid, is forthcoming from Penguin Random House Spain. A dual United States-Spanish citizen, Franko is founder and editor of Sine Qua Non and writes fiction and criticism exploring authorship, morality, memory, and human connection. He holds a PhD in Literature from the University of Texas at Dallas and lives between Texas and Spain.