Here on Modern Mrs Darcy, we’re longtime advocates of reading works in translation as a way to experience the vast and varied types of storytelling from around the world. Works in translation take readers beyond armchair travel and immerse us in cultures that are different from our own.
In 2014, Meytal Radzinski established Women in Translation month in August, dedicated to reading and promoting the works of women in translation, and the works of women whose work has not yet been translated.
One of the categories for the 2020 Reading Challenge is to read a book in translation, and August is the perfect month to check that box.
Today I’m sharing a list of favorite and to-be-read books in translation by women. We have a wide variety here, so whether you love mystery novels, sweeping family sagas, or historical nonfiction—I hope you find a book on this list that sparks your interest and helps you complete your reading challenge.
12 fascinating and eye-opening books by women in translation
Some links (including all Amazon links) are affiliate links. More details here.
The End of the Ocean
Celestial Bodies
The Story of My Teeth
Madame Victoria
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in WWII
Daughter of Fortune
Convenience Store Woman
The Ice Princess (Fjällbacka Book 1)
Strange Weather in Tokyo
The Governesses
Disoriental
Do you have a book in translation on your TBR list this month? Tell us what you’re reading—or what you recommend—in the comments.
P.S. Expand your literary horizons with 20 books in translation or 7 of my favorite books in translation from 2015.
67 comments
So far this month I’ve read two books in translation: “The Housekeeper and the Professor,” by Yogo Ogawa. Translated from Japanese. It is a beautiful story that involves numbers, baseball, and found family.
Also “Autopsy of a Boring Wife,” by Mare-Renee Lavoie. Translated from French. I was hoping to read a book with a strong sense of place in Quebec, but that’s not the case. I still loved this funny story of a woman who comes a bit unraveled after her husband suddenly announces he’s leaving her because he’s in love with another woman. It’s told from the perspective of the main character and her thoughts (and often actions) are hilarious.
The Ice Princess is on my list — I should get it any day now from my library holds. Also planning to read “Three Apples Fell from the Sky” by Narine Abgaryan.
I have read and enjoyed Convenience Store Woman. I started to listen to Strange Weather in Tokyo but haven’t been able to get into it. I also started to read Celestial Bodies earlier this year but put it down. I would like to try that one again.
“The Big Green Tent,” “The Eight Life,” and “All the Rivers” are also on my holds list at the library.
I loved The Housekeeper and the Professor! And even though Convenience Store Woman as a reading experience was just okay for me, I think of the scenes in the story all the time and have talked about the themes in the book many times to other people. So I guess it was better than I thought!
I LOVE the Housekeeper and the Professor! That’s one I would probably reread. I listened to the audio version which was great, other than trying to track with the mathy discussion could be hard that way (I’m visual). So glad you enjoyed it too!
oh my gosh, you have to read The Elegance of the Hedgehog! When I first read it, and I fnished the last page, I flipped right back to the first page and began reading it again- I just didn’t want to leave that world. It is easilyone of my faovurite novels ever.
You just sold me on reading this one!
Loved, loved that book!
Ooh, I’ve been reading loads in translation as part of my effort to read a book from every country over the next decade. Some recommendations:
Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Japan) is whimsical, heartbreaking, and lovely
White Hunger (Finland) is bleak and spare
My Sister the Serial Killer (Nigeria) was a slow burn for me but I’m thinking about it months later
The Girl with the Louding Voice (Nigeria) beautiful and moving
How We Disappeared (Singapore), gorgeous, reminiscent of Pachinko for me
Estoril (Portugal) whimsical, sad, lovely.
No Longer at Ease (Nigeria), an African classic
In Diamond Square (Catalonia), so, so beautiful, set at the time of the Spanish revolution
North Road Toll (Sri Lanka), a random pick from the library pre-lockdown and I really enjoyed it
Johannesburg (South Africa), weird and wonderful, set in a single day, the day of Mandela’s death
The Woman (Italy), a feminist classic
The Missing of Clairedelune (France) French Harry Potter
The Girl in the Tree (Turkey), a Turkish Bell Jar, really evocative and sad.
What a wonderful idea/goal!
What a wonderful list, thank you for sharing.
This is such a great idea. I’m going to try that too!
I recently read The Memory Police by Yoko Agawa, translated from the Japanese. It’s a wonderful slightly surreal novel, which draws you in with its gentle slow pace, and about halfway through you realise how totally devastating it is.
I’m about halfway through it right now! It’s a very creative book and strangely eery.
This is such a great selection!
I have ‘Disoriental’ and ‘The unwomanly face of the war’ in my TBR 🙂
I absolutely love Isabel Allende and ‘Daughter of fortune’ is one of her best books. I also suggest reading ‘The house of spirits’ and her latest book ‘A long petal of the sea’.
If you’re looking for more suggestions (and if you like books set in Italy) I highly recommend Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child).
I recently read ‘The german house’ by Anette Hess, first published in german. It’s a historical fiction story based on the Frankfurt Trials following WWII. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!
Love the Neapolitan books! Just finished the second one.
There is one in translation book I’ll never forget! It’s called The Time in Between by Maria Duénas. You can see my review at https://www.instagram.com/indulge.your.shelf/
It is one of my top reads of all time.
100% agree. I learned of The Time in Between through Anne’s “One Great Book”. Such a fantastic read!!
Me too! I’m only part way through, but I’m loving. It checks all my boxes for relatable characters, beautiful writing, and satisfying plot.
I’m looking forward to reading The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt as my book in translation. Everything I’ve heard of her work is encouraging, so I have really high hopes (fingers crossed they aren’t dashed!).
I would highly recommend The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segoria and translated by Simon Bruni. This was one of my favorite books from 2019 and I still think about the characters and their story.
I loved The Murmur of Bees, the writing was so lyrical. It was fascinating to have the 1918 Pandemic in the background during our current Pandemic. Surprising how 100 years apart, some things are the same!
Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet — one of my favorite reading experiences ever.
The best! I love all four of those novels!
I loved Convenience Store Woman and liked Strange Weather. I just posted my first review for Women in Translation Month today.
Nice to see Svetlana Alexievich on your list. I’m doing the 2020 reading challenge and read ‘Boys in Zinc’ where she documents experiences of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. It’s utterly heartbreaking but beautifully relayed.
I recommend The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia, an interesting story with a Mexican historical perspective. The flu epidemic of 1918 details are sadly parallel to current time but is also just another speed bump in this generational family saga.
It’s August! It’s time for the silliness and intrigue that is all things “Auntie Poldi and the Handsome Antonio”! This is the third in her series of mysteries set in Sicily and is translated from German. Grab a summer beverage and enjoy.
Who is the author?
I have been trying to find more books in translation to read, so I’m excited to check out the ones you recommended.
One of my favorite books in translation is called Please Look After Mom by Shin Kyung-sook and translated by Chi-Young Kim. It is a heartbreakingly beautiful story of family and what the mom means to each of the three children and her husband. The story is told from each persons perspective, concluding with the mom’s and you definitely need a box of Kleenex handy when reading it.
I read a trilogy translated from German by Petra Durst-Bennington: The Glassblower; The American Lady; and The Paradise of Glass. They were recommended by a friend, and I enjoyed them very much.
You should add Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by the Polish writer, Olga Tokarczuk. An interesting mystery – Flights by her is also very good.
“The Eighth Life” by Nino Haratischwili is one of my favorite books ever. It’s a family saga spanning several generations set in Georgia in the fomer Soviet Union.
The Ice Princess is the first in a great crime series. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a series to binge-read. Another good crime series is the Thora Gudmundsdottir series by Yrsa Sigurdadottir (translated from Icelandic). Start with the first book, Last Rituals, and best read in order.
The Eighth Life is another one I’ve got on my list, along with Svetlana Alexievich.
Yes! I still haven’t read any books by Alexievich, but she is one writer I still want to explore. I have several of her books on my TBR.
I’m reading the Viveca Sten mysteries for my three by same author, but I found her because I thought she’d be my translation pick! The House of Spirits by Allende is one of my favorite all time books.
Try Island Beneath the Sea by Allende- its another great one!
This quite a list. You included Camilla Lackberg. I just finished The Golden Cage. WOW. It shows the length Faye will go to get revenge on her cheating husband. Simply delicious.
The Golden Cage sounds right up my alley! Thanks for the recommendation.
I loved it, too! Won it in a contest, one of the only things I ever won.
I loved “The Readers of BrokenWheel Recommend” by Katarina Bivald. It was translated from Swedish. I found it charming and delightful!
You should also pick up Bivald’s newest: Welcome to the Pine Away Motel and Cabins! It, too, is translated, and I am loving it more than Broken Wheel! 🙂
I’m waiting for my order of the French book Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin. It sounds like a lovely book about a woman who lives in a small town as the caretaker of a cemetery. It would seem that she is just as much a caretaker of the grave sites as she is of the various people who come to visit. Sounds like a very different kind of story than I’ve read before!
I inadvertently am reading a translated book this month: Welcome to the Pine Away Motel and Cabins — and it is WONDERFUL! I am savoring the last 50 pages because I just don’t want my time with Henny and her friends to end.
I’m reading Olga Tokarczuk’s ‘Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead’ and I’m loving it so far!
Almost all sound fantastic. I went back a few years for for my book in translation (Swedish), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was fantastic!
I absolutely loved Madame Victoria! Highly recommend it.
I have been reading books in translations for some time- Readers try these!
10 Minutes,38 Seconds, in this Strange World- Elif Shafak- Turkey, short listed for the Booker Prize
Not My Time To Die- Yoland Mukagasana- riveting true story of a woman’s survival during the Rwandan genocide
Arid Dreams- Duanwad Pimwana curious stories from Thailand
Shanghai Baby-Wei Hui- sex, drugs and women in cultural transition in Shanghai
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao- 1940’s Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Madame Bovary is on my list. I bought a copy at Shakespeare and Co. in Paris (it is so pretty), but I haven’t read it yet.
One of my favorites, and it just happens to be translated from Korean: “Please Look After Mom” by Shin Kyung-sook, Chi-Young Kim (Translator)
I know this is women in translation and I read a lot of them, but my latest is one of Fredik Bachman’s. I listened to the audio book narrated by David Morse who has the perfect voice for this book. It is a novella and not for the faint-hearted. I bawled like a baby through the last half of the book. Fortunately was alone at the time with no one but a horse in the pasture with me. I highly recommend the book, probably good in print, but Morse’s narration is wonderful.
I just finished The Golden Cage as well, but found it a disappointing departure from Camilla Läckberg’s other works. It was more reminiscent of The Sisterhood series by Fern Michaels.
Which book?
I bought The Odyssey e-book. I can read that for my book in translation.
I’m one who didn’t like The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It started ok. Then, the main characters were too puffed up about how good they were because they read a lot, and I couldn’t figure out the reason for the story or even the conflict. I finished it, wouldn’t say I hated it, but wouldn’t read it again.
I’m reading The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa right now! Perfect for this month! It’s definitely unusual, but good. Difficult to explain. I loved Convenience Store Woman, so I’m checking out more from this list.
I ADORE Svetlana Alexievich. Russian lit and history are my jam, so I am all over this. I don’t know which of her books I’ll read next. Voices of Chernobyl was a ten star read for me. It broke my heart, and I read it twice back to back. I highly recommend her.
I just finished “And Then Came Paulette,” by the French author Barbara Constantine. Such a delightful book!
I haven’t read my book in translation yet but last year I read The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist translated from Swedish. It’s a dystopian story with a premise I found really fascinating. It would be an interesting one to discuss with a book club.
Hao Jingfang wrote The Vagabonds, which I have just started reading. She was the first Chinese woman to win a Hugo Award (2016) for her novella Folding Beijing. Folding Beijing is available to read for free on the website for Uncanny Magazine (published 2015). I have read the novella and found it fascinating!
I just finished The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (audio). Not translated from French, but German. I didn’t really have any expectations (I finished my last audiobook and my holds had not come in yet so I found it while browsing through Libby). I loved it. I did finish the last hour or do sitting on my deck and having a good cry. Bittersweet but happy ending. I liked it so much, I just checked out The Little French Bistro.
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk was the best book I read in 2019, so inventive and emotionally resonant.
The Neopolitan Trilogy by Elena Ferrante – an absolute masterpiece of feminist fiction. Small Country (Petit Pays) by Gaelle Faye were two recent favorites of mine in translation. I liked the first Aunti Poldi (Aunt Poldi and the Lions of Sicily ) but the translation on the second one has me not thrilled.
and i just realized i put 2 books by men in there – oops.
I’m halfway through The Murmur of Bees and am enjoying it. The first part of the novel is set during the Spanish Influenza pandemic… so interesting timing.
When our group read The Elegance of the Hedgehog, we realized maybe American’s are not ver sophisticated readers anymore. We liked it, and I think I will reread it, but it was a harder read than most books we had read or have read since. It is beautifully written!
Americans!!
I read The Elegence of the Hedgehog with an international book club that I was in so that may have helped. I loved it but I think you have to let go and accept the character’s exaggerated personalities. I was enamored with them so enjoyed seeing what happened.
I read Strange Weather in Tokyo earlier this year and found it depressing. I assume something got lost in the cultural translation for me. All the heavy drinking and depression. Very little character growth. It felt so heavy.
One of my favorite Women in Translation books I read last year – a surprise to me – The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia was amazing. Rich in characters and setting, it also spanned decades of family dynamics and historical events with the plot, and a touch of magical realism for good measure. Loved it!