I can’t help myself. There were just too many good books left out of my first post with recommendations for Women in Translation Month, part two was necessary!
Before we dive in, I wanted to point you in the direction of two Instagram accounts that I love who read such an interesting array of translated and global lit: Lauren at @end.notes and @ns510reads. Both encourage me to dive deeper into the books I read and add to my TBR more than is probably healthy. Definitely check those two out if you want to broaden your reading horizons further!
Some titles were previously sent to me for free from the publisher in exchange for a review. These have been noted with an asterisk* and, as always, my opinion is unbiased. I’m also an affiliate for Blackwell’s and this post contains affiliate links. If any of my recommendations catch your eye, please consider shopping using my affiliate link beneath each entry. I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you on anything you buy. Thank you!
So without further ado, let’s jump into my second lot of recommendations for Women in Translation Month!
1. Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez, tr. Spanish by Megan McDowell
Megan McDowell is back at it again with the incredible translations. I LOVE a solid short story collection, and Things We Lost in the Fire is one of the best I’ve read. I don’t think there was a single story I didn’t enjoy to some extent, and most of them I quickly grew obsessed with. Enríquez offers a perfect balance of pure, unadulterated horror and cutting social commentary on Argentina’s issues, past and present. My favourites were Adela’s House and The Neighbour’s Courtyard.
Buy Things We Lost in the Fire at Blackwell’s
2. The Disaster Tourist* by Yun Ko-eun, tr. Korean by Lizzie Buehler
Described as an ‘eco-thriller with a fierce feminist sensibility’, this book really gripped me when I read it in February. Yun Ko-eun tackles a variety of themes, including environmentalism, climate change, #MeToo, and of course, the weird world of disaster tourism. The debate around collective responsibility fascinated me. The author also questions why certain natural disasters attract huge outpourings of support, while others merit a few lines in a newspaper, if that. I loved the ending: deliciously dark and dripping in irony.
Buy The Disaster Tourist at Blackwell’s
3. Celestial Bodies* by Jokha Alharthi, tr. Arabic by Marilyn Booth
Jokha Alharthi is the first Omani woman to be translated into English, which was already enough for me to want to pick this book up. She then went on to win the International Booker Prize 2019, if you needed further encouragement. Celestial Bodies is the story of three sisters and their families, as their lives unfold against the backdrop of a quickly shifting Oman. This book contains a lot of poetry, with poetic language too, so I recommend reading it when you have plenty of time to devote to it. I want to reread it, as I made the mistake of rereading it during a really busy period of work. 25 pages a day just doesn’t allow me to engage with a book as fully as I’d like.
Buy Celestial Bodies at Blackwell’s
4. Miss Iceland* by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, tr. Icelandic by Brian FitzGibbon
If you love historical fiction but feel the need for a change of pace, may I recommend Miss Iceland? This book was a breath of fresh air. We follow the lives of three young people in 1960s Iceland, a country resistant to change when change appears imminent. Hekla longs to break away from the traditional roles set out for Icelandic women and dreams of being a writer. Ísey finds herself saddled with two children by 21, exhausted and overwhelmed. And finally Jón John, a gay man who dreams of being a costume designer abroad. I can’t recommend this one enough, the three storylines utterly gripped me and I rooted for the characters all the way through.
Buy Miss Iceland at Blackwell’s
5. Breasts and Eggs* by Mieko Kawakami, tr. Japanese by David Boyd and Sam Bett
Another book that focuses on motherhood (can anyone spot my favourite theme?), Breasts and Eggs is made up of a novella and then an expansion of that novella. It sounds strange but apparently Kawakami published ‘Breasts’ first as a standalone and then ‘Eggs’ came after. I much preferred ‘Eggs’, which details Natsuko’s quest to become a mother while being averse to sex. Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in narratives around unconventional motherhood.
Preorder Breasts and Eggs at Blackwell’s
6. The Years* by Annie Ernaux, tr. French by Alison L. Strayer
Of course Annie Ernaux would make my recommendations for Women in Translation Month list. She is one of my literary crushes. The Years is different to Ernaux’s usual memoirs though, in that it also intertwines general French history with Ernaux’s personal history. Unless you’re well versed in French history from the 1940s onwards, be prepared to do a lot of Googling. But I think it’s more than worth it to witness the masterful juxtaposition of public and private on display here.
7. Things That Fall from the Sky* by Selja Ahava, tr. Finnish by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah
If you’re looking for something with a dash of whimsy for Women in Translation month then check out Things That Fall from the Sky. I think Ahava presents a delightful mix of charm and reflection with this book. I wouldn’t say it’s magical realism, but it definitely toes the line. Ahava questions big issues like destiny and fate, and whether someone has any control over their own. But she does so with a light hand, with quirky characters whose voices shine through the pages thanks to Fleur and Emily Jeremiah.
Buy Things That Fall From the Sky at Blackwell’s
8. The Remainder* by Alia Trabucco Zerán, tr. Spanish by Sophie Hughes
This was another contender for the Booker International Prize 2019, and one of my favourites too. This book is a translation-lover’s dream. Many of the chapters consist of long, freewheeling sentences that go on for four or five pages. Sophie Hughes grapples with them admirably, and the result is an intense and feverish reading experience. There is also a translator character who often muses on the untranslatability of her work, something I very much enjoyed. An incredible translation and a compelling debut!
Buy The Remainder at Blackwell’s
9. Little Eyes* by Samanta Schweblin, tr. Spanish by Megan McDowell
Yes, we are a Megan McDowell fan club over here, okay? Little Eyes is such a creepy little book, exploring what might happen when the world is swept up in Kentuki fever. Kentuki are essentially Furbies on steroids. You can either choose to be a keeper or a dweller. Keepers own Kentuki, and their lives play out on screen for whoever is ‘dwelling’ in said Kentuki. What unfurls is a voyeuristic nightmare that is hugely entertaining and disturbing in equal measure. Be warned, it’s more a series of loosely connected vignettes than a full-blown novel.
Buy Little Eyes at Blackwell’s
10. The Eighth Life* by Nino Haratischvili, tr. Ruth Martin and Charlotte Collins
Come on. Did you really think I was NOT going to try and force you all to read The Eighth Life? I couldn’t let any recommendations for Women in Translation Month list of mine go by without attempting to sway you all to put all your other books aside and spend all of August immersed in this 900-page MASTERPIECE. Check out my full review here and then buy it. You won’t regret it.
Buy The Eighth Life at Blackwell’s
That’s that! Hopefully these last few posts have given you some inspiration for Women in Translation Month. Let me know if you’re planning on reading anything from this list in the comments!