A spotlight on translated fiction this month
This month we're reading novels translated from Spanish, Danish and Japanese.
Cousins by Aurora Venturini (translated from Spanish by Kit Maude)
At the age of 85, Aurora Venturini stunned Argentine readers when her darkly funny and formally daring novel, Cousins, won Pagina/12’s New Novel Award. She had already written more than thirty books – but it was only then, in 2007, that she was widely recognized as a radical voice in Spanish-language literature.
Widely regarded as Venturini’s masterpiece, Cousins is the story of four women from an impoverished, dysfunctional family in La Plata, Argentina, who are forced to suffer a series of ordeals including disfigurement, illegal abortions, miscarriages, sexual abuse and murder, narrated by a daughter whose success as a painter offers her a chance to achieve economic independence and help her family as best she can.
Neighborhood mythologies, family, female sexuality, vengeance, and social mobility through art are explored and scrutinized in the unmistakable voice of an unforgettable protagonist, Yuna, who stares wildly at the world in which she is compelled to live; a voice unique in its candidness, sharp edge and utterly breathtaking power. Cousins is the jewel in Venturini’s oeuvre-mischievous and stylish, vital and mysterious, and completely original.
Termush by Sven Holm (translated from Danish by Sylvia Clayton)
Welcome to Termush: a luxury coastal resort like no other. All the wealthy guests are survivors: preppers who reserved rooms long before the Disaster. Inside, they embrace exclusive radiation shelters, ambient music and lavish provisions; outside, radioactive dust falls on the sculpture park, security men step over dead birds, and a reconnaissance party embarks. Despite weathering a nuclear apocalypse, their problems are only just beginning. Soon, the Management begins censoring news; disruptive guests are sedated; initial generosity towards Strangers ceases as fears of contamination and limited resources grow.
As the numbers – and desperation – of external survivors increase, they must decide what it means to forge a new moral code at the end (or beginning?) of the world.
Prey for the Shadow by Javier Cercas (translated from Spanish by Anne McLean)
The mayor of Barcelona is being blackmailed. A sex tape from her student days – one she never knew existed. The price: 300,000 euros and her immediate resignation. A political chameleon who swept to power on a populist wave, she has her enemies. Nor can she trust those closest to her. Both her ex-husband and her deputy would profit from her fall.
Melchor Marin, living a quiet life in Terra Alta, is tempted back to Barcelona to work the case. But what seemed a simple matter has its roots in far more serious and disturbing crimes.
With the mayor on the verge of capitulation, a shock revelation changes everything – not least the course of Melchor's life. At long last, his heart's dark desire is in his grasp.
... and new to b-format, an uplifting — and bestselling — Japanese classic!
How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino (translated from Japanese by Bruno Navasky)
Academy Award-winning anime master Hayao Miyazaki's favourite childhood book and the inspiration behind the Studio Ghibli film.
The streets of Tokyo swarm below fifteen year-old Copper as he gazes out into the city of his childhood. Struck by the thought of the infinite people whose lives play out alongside his own, he begins to wonder, how do you live?
Considering life’s biggest questions for the first time, Copper turns to his dear uncle for heart-warming wisdom. As the old man guides the boy on a journey of philosophical discovery, a timeless tale unfolds, offering a poignant reflection on what it means to be human.
