Jean Portante: Projets pour un naufrage prémédité [Projects for a Premeditated Shipwreck]

The latest addition to my website is Jean Portante‘s Projets pour un naufrage prémédité [Projects for a Premeditated Shipwreck]. This novel, from Luxembourg, is strange from the cryptic title to the convoluted plot. The hypersensitive Laure and unfaithful Frédéric, married for ten years, are seemingly splitting up. He thought he was sending her away but … Read more

Yōko Ogawa: ミーナの行進 (Mina’s Matchbox)

The latest addition to my website is Yōko Ogawa‘s ミーナの行進 (Mina’s Matchbox). Tomoko’s father has died and her mother has to study so Tomoko is sent off to her aunt, her mother’s sister, who is married to a man who runs a successful energy drinks company. She gets on well with all the family, particularly … Read more

Ghazaleh Alizadeh: » خانه ادریسیها (The House of The Edrisis (Volume 1)

The latest addition to my website is Ghazaleh Alizadeh‘s خانه ادریسیها (The House of The Edrisis (Volume 1). The novel is set in what we know as Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, but it had been part of Persia and is now (1910s) part of Russia. The Edrisis are a decaying family living in a large … Read more

Scholastique Mukasonga: Sister Deborah (Sister Deborah)

The latest addition to my website is Scholastique Mukasonga‘s Sister Deborah. The novel is set in Rwanda when it was a Belgian colony. A ,mission consisting of black Americans comes to a village in Rwanda, with Sister Deborah seemingly the leader. She seems to have the gift of healing and helps many, including Ikirezi, the … Read more

Yuri Herrera: La estación del pantano (Season of the Swamp)

The latest addition to my website isYuri Herrera‘s La estación del pantano (Season of the Swamp). Future Mexican president Benito Juárez was exiled by president Antonio López de Santa Anna. Juárez and his companions end up in New Orleans. It is 1853. We know tthey were there for eighteen months but we know nothing of … Read more

Paolo Giordano: Tasmania (Tasmania)

The latest addition to my website is Paolo Giordano‘s Tasmania (Tasmania). Our narrator, called Paolo Giordano, is a science journalist. He is worried about private issues – particularly his marriage, not least because his wife cannot get pregnant but also worldwide issues, such as climate change and terrorism but others as well. He is unsure … Read more