I read this book during last year’s #WomenInTranslation Month (August 2021), a tradition started 10 years ago by Meytal Radzinki.

 It is thanks to Meytal and the #WIT twitter community that I have read as many books as I have. If you are on Twitter, look for the hashtag #WiTmonth and  follow people like TranslateWomen,  MillieMargretta and Read_WIT and @GlobalLitIn.

It is especially thanks to Meytal that I discovered this wonderful book.

In a Nutshell:

A sweet and uplifting tale of love, friendship and second chances, set in the Armenian mountains.

Themes:

Love, friendship, war, hardship and second chances at life.

An Observation:

The book’s title comes from an Armenian saying:

And three apples fell from heaven:

One for the storyteller,

One for the listener,

And one for the eavedsropper.

A Quote:

“Anatolia realized for the first time that intimacy was something to treasure rather than a degrading ordeal.”

Book Details:

Publisher: Oneworld Publications

Publishing Date: 07.10.2021 (latest publication)

Author:

Narine Abgaryan is a Russian writer of Armenian origin. Already renowned as a children’s author and blogger in Russia, she is now a prize-winning novelist. First published in 2015, Three Apples Fell from the Sky was awarded the Yasnaya Polyana award. Abgaryan lives in Moscow with her family. 

Translator:

Lisa C. Hayden‘s translations from the Russian include Eugene Vodolazkin’s Laurus, which won a Read Russia Award in 2016. Laurus and Lisa’s translation of Vadim Levental’s Masha Regina were both shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize. She lives in Maine, USA.

A bit about me!

A bit about me, my name is Jess Andoh-Thayre. I am from Brixton, South London. I currently live in Cambodia. Before living here in Cambodia, I lived in Tanzania with my husband, who is a diplomat. I have also lived in Chile and Spain. I am a French, Spanish and English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher. I recently qualified as a SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator). After taking three years off to have a baby in a pandemic and also retrain, I have just returned to work as an Elementary Learning Support Teacher.