My thanks to World Editions for a review copy of this book via NetGalley Abyss is a story of family, of marriage, adultery, estrangement and depression all told through the eyes of an eight-year-old child (like a Goodreads friend and fellow reviewer, I too was thing of What Masie Knew). Written in Spanish by Columbian…
Book Review: Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov, and translated by Boris Dralyuk
My thanks to Deep Vellum Publishing for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss. Grey Bees by Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov, originally published in 2018 and in this translation by Boris Dralyuk in 2022, is a quiet and subtle look at the Ukrainian conflict (before the current invasion), through the eyes of the gentle…
Book Review: Saha by Cho Nam-Joo and translated by Jamie Chang
My thanks to Simon and Schuster, UK for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. Having read the powerful and hard-hitting Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982 by author Cho Nam-Joo, when I found another of her works had been translated, of course, I had to read it. Saha (first published in 2019, and in translation…
Book Review: Cafe Shira by David Ehrlich and translated by Michael Swirsky
My thanks to Syracuse University Press for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss. It’s amazing what a coffeehouse can be for so many people, what a crossroads, what a meeting place of worlds and ideas. Café Shira (2022) was a book I first noticed on Edelweiss earlier this year, but then when I…
Book Review: Punishment of a Hunter by Yulia Yakovleva and translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp
My thanks to Pushkin Press for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss. Punishment of a Hunter is a dark, gritty and gripping historical mystery which gives the reader an excellent sense of time and place as well as a very satisfying mystery. Written by author, theatre and ballet critic Yulia Yakovleva, the book…
Book Review: An Illustrated Collection of Nordic Animal Tales by Pirkko-Liisa Surojegin and translated by Jill G. Timbers
My thanks to Floris Books/Ingram Publishing Services for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss. Written and illustrated by Pirkko-Liisa Surojegin, An Illustrated Collection of Nordic Animal Tales is a collection of 26 animals stories based on Nordic, particularly Finnish folklore. Originally written in Finnish and published in 1997, this translation by Jill…
Book Review: Ti Amo by Hanne Ørstavik and translated by Martin Aitken #NovNov
My thanks to Archipelago/Steerforth Press for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss. Ti Amo (2022) is a raw, honest, beautiful, heart-breaking, autobiographical account of a woman whose husband is suffering terminal cancer. Written originally in Norwegian by author Hanne Ørstavik, the version I read is translated brilliantly by Martin Aitken. In Ti Amo,…
Book Review: Montaigne by Stefan Zweig and translated by Will Stone #NovNov #NonfictionNovember #GermanLitMonth
In such epochs where the highest values of life—our peace, our independence, our basic rights, all that makes our existence more pure, more beautiful, all that justifies it—are sacrificed to the demon inhabiting a dozen fanatics and ideologues, all the problems of the man who fears for his humanity come down to the same question:…
Book Review: Chandrakanta: A Hindi Fantasy Classic by Devaki Nandan Khatri (translated by Rohini Chowdhury)
Today I am sharing my thoughts on the Hindi fantasy classic Chandrakanta (1888) by Devaki Nandan Khatri, which first appeared this past Friday as part of #WitchWeek2022 hosted by Chris at Calmgrove, and Lizzie at Lizzie Ross Writer, here. Below is the post as appeared on Chris' blog. * * * A beautiful princess, a…
Book Review: Mr Ma and Son by Lao She, translated by William Dolby #1929Club
My thanks to Penguin Press UK for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. Lao She was an author I first ‘met’ when I read John Fletcher’s Wuhan last year where he was a character and one of the narrators, and that book had left me wanting to explore She’s writings, so when this…
Literary Potpourri 