Paris. Minuit. 2014. ISBN 9782707323996
Second novels are often where literary careers are made or, on the contrary, where they founder. Julia Deck’s second novel for Éditions de Minuit amply fulfills…
FICTION
Arles, France. Actes Sud. 2014. ISBN 9782330033729 Kamel Daoud, well known in Algeria for his political columns that criticize the government, has turned to literature to describe the complex heritage…
Paula Haydar & Nadine Sinno, tr. Austin. University of Texas Press. 2014. ISBN 9780292763074 Who’s Afraid of Meryl Streep? (aptly reminding us of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virgi…
Tim Mohr, tr. New York. Europa. 2014. ISBN 9781609452292 Alina Bronsky’s deftly translated novel is a coming-of-age story as well as one of coming to terms with oneself and the world. Our “superhero”…
Athens. Metaichmio. 2013. ISBN 9789605661908 To aficionados of children’s fiction, Alkē Zei has long been a familiar name. His award-winning and much-translated novels and story collections are renown…
New York. Akashic Books. 2014. ISBN 9781617752407 “America damages girls,” Flora says, verbalizing the suspicion of her Haitian father, Frisner, in New York. Sagesse’s mother repeatedly sings a Creole…
Nicky Harman, tr. Hong Kong. Muse. 2014. ISBN 9789881604606 Dorothy Tse’s collection of short stories transports the reader through a series of shocks and revelations into a complex realm pendulating…
Alistair Ian Blythe, tr. Prague. Twisted Spoon Press. 2014. ISBN 9788086264448 Anyone raised even in the vestigial remnants of an oral culture will respond at some level to the tales in this eloquent…
Frank Wynne, tr. New York. Bloomsbury. 2015. ISBN 9781620402245 Boualem Sansal dedicates this novel to illegal immigration. The term harraga is an Arabism that literally means “path burners,…
Artarmon, New South Wales. Giramondo. 2014. ISBN 9781922146533 A Million Windows is whimsical fiction, nearly satirical. In its delivery of a sustained monologue, the novel evokes Nabokov’s H…
Portland, Oregon. Tin House Books. 2014. ISBN 9781935639817 Highly regarded as an influential writer and critic in the world of independent music, Sean Michaels writes his first full-length work of hi…
Susan Bernofsky, tr. New York. W.W. Norton. 2014. ISBN 9780393347098 “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed into a gigantic insect.” This is how generations…
Michael F. Moore, tr. New York. Other Press. 2014. ISBN 9781590516812 There are books that become a part of us as we read them, books we return to again and again. There are also books that we read f…
Doral, Florida. Alfaguara. 2014. ISBN 9781622639403 Jorge Franco studied filmmaking before turning his talents to fiction writing. He has produced six novels and a book of short stories. Although he…
Wien. Styria Premium. 2014. ISBN 9783222134081 In this year of memories, when historical studies and new evaluations of the circumstances leading to the outbreak of World War I in 1914 abound, a histo…
Budapest. Magvető. 2014. ISBN 9789631431964 László Darvasi (aka Ernő Szív) is a Hungarian prose writer whose fiction has entertained at least two generations of readers. His grand novel, Virágzabá…
Nice. Éditions Rod. 2014. ISBN 9791093467023 Mehdi Dadsetan’s semi-autobiographical second novel, La danse des ombres (The dance of shadows), tells the story of Saïd, an Iranian political re…
Anna Heath, tr. London. Berforts Information Press. 2014. ISBN 9781908616739 This anthology of contemporary Peruvian short fiction, beginning in the 1950s, is comprised of eight short stories by well…
Dublin. Liberties Press. 2014. ISBN 9781909718340 I love the ocean. I love the sea. I love the sounds, smells, and sights that abound when one sits on the beach looking out to sea. For a landlubber w…
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Black Lawrence Press. 2014. ISBN 9781937854959 After publishing several novels, a volume of essays, and over two hundred short stories in literary journals and anthologies—wi…
Katy Derbyshire, tr. London. Seagull Books (University of Chicago Press, distr.). 2014. ISBN 9780857421869 Dedicated to her husband on their anniversary, Christa Wolf’s final story tenderly relays the…
Ljouwert, Netherlands. Friese Pers. 2013. ISBN 9789033004223 The reader of this debut novel will be surprised to get two stories for the price of one. Author Ale S. Van Zandbergen is indeed off to an…
Madrid / Bogotá. Alfaguara. 2013. ISBN 9788420415574 / 9789587586008 Colombian author Fernando Vallejo (b. 1942, Medellín) is currently in a privileged position within the world of literature written…
Lima. Alfaguara. 2013. ISBN 9786123090999 Raúl Tola is one of Peru’s most respected print and television journalists; in addition, he is an accomplished fiction writer, as his third novel, Flores…
Budapest. Magvető. 2014. ISBN 9789631431667 László Szilasi’s novel Szentek hárfája (see WLT, Jan. 2011, 68) was largely about the history of his hometown, Békéscsaba, in southeastern…