Alta Ifland was born in Transylvania (Romania), took part in the overthrow of Romania's communist dictatorship, and experienced two years of postcommunism before emigrating to the United States in 1991. She chose Moldova, Romania's eastern neighbor, for The Wife Who Wasn't because in key ways that country represents the communist world in its most excessive aspects, and as such is the perfect counterpart to California. After a PhD in French language and literature, and several years in academia, she now works as a full-time writer, book reviewer, and translator (from French, Italian, and Romanian). She is the author of two books of short stories--Elegy for a Fabulous World (2010 finalist for the Northern California Book Award in Fiction) and Death-in-a-Box (2011 Subito Press Fiction Prize)--and two collections of prose poems--Voix de Glace/Voice of Ice (bilingual, French-English, winner of the French prize Louis Guillaume) and The Snail's Song