Women in Translation Month
August has been designated Women in Translation month and I've managed to read a few books that fit this brief - well two books written and translated by women and the third just being translated by a woman.
Marzahn. Mon Amour - by Katja Oskamp and translated from German by Jo Heinrich (Peirene Press)
This has recently been Radio 4's book at bedtime but to my annoyance I kept falling asleep while listening. I did however have a copy of the book on my shelves and decided to 'read along' as it were.
It's a strange little book, set in the former East Germany and focusing on a woman who's retrained as a chiropodist and her clients. The book is a series of vignettes about the people who come to the clinic where she works, or those who live in the area. It meanders and repeats key phrases but was wholly compelling and like nothing I've read before.
The Easy Life - by Marguerite Duras and translated from French by Emma Ramadan (Bloomsbury)
Incredible The Lover by Duras was one of our French A Level set texts but since then I've not read or heard anything about her books. This one isn't out until December but while it was beautifully written and translated I am not sure I understood it at all. I'm not sure that I hugely understood The Lover either but that might just have been my French - I'm going to reread it again (in English) soon to see if it does bear any resemblance to my memories.
Tasting Sunlight - by Ewald Arentz and translated from German by Rachel Ward (Orenda Books)
Another quirky tale with two strong female voices thrown together by circumstance and yet perfectly suited. Each has her own traumas to battle and these are unfurled slowly and convincingly.
I had my heart in my mouth on more than one occasion and wouldn't have minded if the book was twice as long!
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So in month that has seen me battle to find novels that capture my full attention it is literature in translation from independent publishers that has seen me though!
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