I am loving all the women in translation books I am reading. I have found so many gems that I want to share with the world. My hope is that someone will pick up a Women in Translation book and maybe publishing will change and we will get more of the amazing stories. Only about 10% of the books published in the US are translated. We are missing out on so many stories.
Synopsis: A collection of darkly beautiful stories.
What I liked: Each of the stories was so well crafted. Dávila’s writing really can get under your skin. There is a warmth to her writing that underlines the darkness in her stories. Many of her stories deal with the mundane that end in heartbreak or worse. Many of her stories deal with women or families. Personally, I think stories that deal with the normal that turn horrific are always hold the most horror for me. You tend to put yourself in the main characters shoes. The thing here is that you really don’t want to walk in these main characters shoes.
What I didn’t like: That it took this long to read The House Guest.
Star Rating: 5 Stars
My thoughts: Dávila didn’t get translated until she was 90. How many stories has the English speaking world missed out on. Honestly, I feel like we are missing out on so much. I love that we have a Women in translation month. But we need to read these books more than once a year. These books need to go into our rotations. Actively, seeking out something new and different is what really makes readers have a full understanding of what is out in the world. The amount of stories that are waiting for us to discover them. That is why I am stoked that the Ladies of Horror Fiction are going to be featuring specific countries and regions.
Sounds really good! I read Things We Lost in the Fire and Convenient Store Woman this past year and loved both and totally agree – I wish there were more translated books! Interestingly, many of them that I’ve seen are short story collections. I wonder if those are “easier” to translate than longer pieces?
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The Houseguest was so so good. I wondered about that myself. Because they do seem to be primarily short stories. I liked Things We Lost in the Fire…..and I really want to read Convenient Store Woman. I heard really great things about it so that is on my too read this read.
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CSW is probably in my top 5-10 reads of this year – I definitely recommend it!
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It is on hold!!!
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