These six titles by women from around the globe offer sweeping fantasy, gritty realism, and historical tales that will shape how you experience the world.
An evocative portrait of French provincial life in the 80s and 90s, How to Make a Woman by Marie Darrieussecq and translated by Penny Hueston follows two best friends as they grow up and experience adolescence, love, sex, work and motherhood, and negotiate their place in the world. With beautiful characterisation and hypnotic writing, this spellbinding novel is a bold examination of female friendship. For fans of Annie Ernaux and Tove Ditlevsen.
A fictional journey through three generations in the life of a mythical Polish village during the twentieth century, Primeval and Other Times pays homage to the small and grand moments of history, with Olga Tokarczuk’s trademark intelligent and haunting writing, translated by Antonia Lloyd Jones. For fans of Han Kang and Jenny Erpenbeck.
In The Notebook Trilogy by Ágota Kristóf—translated by Alan Sheridan, David Watson and Marc Romano—two identical twin boys are sent to live with their grandmother in wartime Eastern Europe. Their angelic looks hide a disturbing psychology in this powerful, dark and utterly original set of three novellas, exploring trauma, truth and memory. For fans of László Krasznahorkai.
The first instalment in The Mirror Visitor Quartet, A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos—translated by Hildegarde Serle—enchants readers with its imaginative and unique world building, and entertaining court intrigue. Perfect for fans of Howl’s Moving Castle and those seeking a spark of wonder and escape from everyday mundanity.
This concise and powerful novel from Palestinian author Adania Shibli and translated by Elisabeth Jaquette is split into two parts—one from the perspective of an Israeli soldier in 1949, and the other from the perspective of a Palestinian woman twenty-five years later, who becomes obsessed with investigating one of his crimes. Impactful in its delicacy, Minor Detail is a meditation on war, violence and erasure. For fans of Ghassān Kanafānī and Susan Abulhawa.
Paradais by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes, flays open issues of race, class and violence within Mexico—and confronts us with teenagers whose desires and hardships may tear their lives apart. Shocking, explosive and relentless, this visceral novel will have you racing through the pages. For fans of Mariana Enríquez and Cristina Rivera Garza.
