<span><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="663" style="border-collapse:collapse;"><tr style="height:15pt;"><td style="width:497pt;padding:0.75pt 0.75pt 0pt 0.75pt;border-top:none;border-right:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none" valign="bottom" width="663"><span><span>Magic, depravity, spiritual ambition, sensuality, and love — </span><span style="font-style:italic;">The Painted Alphabet</span><span> binds mythic and modern time together in a rich, slyly suggestive novel based on an old Balinese poem. In a fresh and startling picture of Bali — where witches coexist with tourists and talking animals — the novel explores a kaleidoscope of vanity, desire, and the longing for goodness.</span></span><br /></td></tr></table><span><span> </span></span><br /></span>