In the summer of 1972, the actor Anthony Hopkins was signed to play a leading role in a film based on George Feifer’s novel The Girl from Petrovka. That is why ① he traveled to London to buy a copy of the book. Unfortunately, none of the main London bookstores had a copy. Then, on his way home, waiting for an underground train at Leicester Square tube station, he saw a discarded book lying on the seat next to ② him. It was a copy of The Girl from Petrovka. As if that was not coincidence enough, more was to follow. Later, when ③ he had a chance to meet the author, Hopkins told him about this strange occurrence. Feifer was interested. He said to ④ him that in November 1971 he had lent a friend a copy of the book—a unique copy in which he had made notes on turning the British English into American English for the publication of an American version—but his friend had lost the copy in London. A quick check of the copy Hopkins had found showed that it was the very same copy that ⑤ his friend had mislaid.