The Art of Disappearing

When Mel Snow meets the magician Toby Warring in a lonely Nevada saloon, she is instantly drawn to the brilliant performer whose powers are not an illusion. After a whirlwind romance and a Vegas wedding, Toby and Mel settle into a routine of vaudeville magic shows, which slowly attract attention for their unmistakable 'realness'. As his renown grows, Mel starts to realize that Toby's powers are unstable and learns that he once made his assistant disappear completely, and couldn't bring her back. Then the unthinkable happens: a trick goes terribly awry during his Vegas debut. Toby is exiled from the stage and shunned. Mel and Toby travel to Amsterdam, where a cabal of old-time magicians, real magicians like Toby, try to rescue him from his despair. But he's haunted by the failed trick and obsessed with testing the limits of his power. Mel insists that she doesn't need magic to love him, but she's left wondering how to determine whether the love she believes in is real or an illusion?

About the Author :
Ivy Pochoda graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Classical Greek and English. She was a champion squash player and a six-time member of the United States Women's National Squash Team. She was the Spring 2009 James Merrill House Writer-in-Residence. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. This is her first novel.

Review :
"A terrific page-turner about a stage magician and a traveling textile designer who meet in Vegas and marry two days later, and all the mystery and mayhem that ensues." --"Elle""" "A lyrical novel that will enchant you with a love story and with poetic, evocative prose." --"Shelf Awareness" "An uncommonly good first novel about the unlikely love between a lonely woman and a most unusual magician. It's a magical story, full of passion, heart break, and wonder." --Peter Hedges, author of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" "In this beguiling first novel, Pochoda brings an acute eye and vivid imagination to the ordinary details of life. The result is magic itself." --Rebecca Johnson, author of "And Sometimes Why" "Ivy Pochoda's language is hypnotic, her story refreshingly original. Most important of all, the characters she conjured made me ache. Prepare to let go of the mundane and embrace the fantastical in this well-imagined debut. It is utterly spellbinding." --Amy McKinnon, author of "Tethered" "Ivy Pochoda's brilliant first novel convinces us of the magic of reality, and the reality of magic. A seductive delight for all the senses, not least, the sixth."--Galt Niederhoffer, author of "The Romantics" “A terrific page-turner about a stage magician and a traveling textile designer who meet in Vegas and marry two days later, and all the mystery and mayhem that ensues.” --"Elle""" "A lyrical novel that will enchant you with a love story and with poetic, evocative prose." --"Shelf Awareness" "An uncommonly good first novel about the unlikely love between a lonely woman and a most unusual magician. It's a magical story, full of passion, heart break, and wonder." --Peter Hedges, author of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"   "In this beguiling first novel, Pochoda brings an acute eye and vivid imagination to the ordinary details of life.  The result is magic itself." --Rebecca Johnson, author of "And Sometimes Why"   "Ivy Pochoda's language is hypnotic, her story refreshingly original.  Most important of all, the characters she conjured made me ache. Prepare to let go of the mundane and embrace the fantastical in this well-imagined deb