Belarus 🇧🇾: Last Witnesses: Unchildlike Stories by Svetlana Alexievich, tr. Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky

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In a Nutshell: This book was published in 1986 and it was translated into English and published a couple of years ago. It tells the story of the children, now adults, who survived the Nazi invasion on the eastern front of WW2. This book documents the memories of children who survived. Over 100 testimonies, which … Continue reading Belarus 🇧🇾: Last Witnesses: Unchildlike Stories by Svetlana Alexievich, tr. Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky

Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 : Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Filipović, tr. Christina Pribichevich-Zorić

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In a Nutshell: Zlata’s Diary is the diary of Zlata Filipović, with entries from September 1991-December 1993, it starts just before her 10th birthday. It is a moving, sometimes funny and very sad account of her experience of the Bosnian war as it hit her home city of Sarajevo. Themes: War, friendship, politics, love, childhood and … Continue reading Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 : Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Filipović, tr. Christina Pribichevich-Zorić

Nicaragua 🇳🇮: The Country Under My Skin: a memoir of love and war by Gioconda Belli, tr. by Kristina Cordero

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In a Nutshell: This book is Belli’s account of the Nicaraguan revolution, of meetings with Fidel Castro and Gabriel García Marquez and exile in Costa Rica and of her own political and romantic awakenings. A brilliant book, I was gripped from the very first page. I have now thought to myself of all the people … Continue reading Nicaragua 🇳🇮: The Country Under My Skin: a memoir of love and war by Gioconda Belli, tr. by Kristina Cordero

Mozambique 🇲🇿: Neighbours: The Story of a Murder by Lília Momplé, tr. Richard Bartlett and Isaura de Oliveira

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My dad and step-mum are champions of this project and for my birthday this year, they gave me two books, one representing Namibia and this one. In a Nutshell: This 130 page novella is part of the AWS (African Writers Series). It is a sort of whodunnit, it takes place on the eve of Eid, starting at … Continue reading Mozambique 🇲🇿: Neighbours: The Story of a Murder by Lília Momplé, tr. Richard Bartlett and Isaura de Oliveira

Gabon 🇬🇦: Awu’s Story by Justine Mintsa, tr. Cheryl Toman

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Some time last year, I tweeted that I was looking for books by women from certain African countries, someone recommended this book, and it doesn’t disappoint. In a Nutshell: Awu’s Story is a story of Awu and her marriage to Obame, and of old traditions in Northern Gabon grappling with the change of modern customs in … Continue reading Gabon 🇬🇦: Awu’s Story by Justine Mintsa, tr. Cheryl Toman

Fiji 🇫🇯: A Privileged Life Denied by Sarote Fotfiri Erasito (tr. Sarote Fotfiri Erasito) in Poems from the Edge of Extinction: An Anthology of Poetry in Endangered Languages (Ed. Chris McCabe)

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In 2021, I started a podcast interviewing a different woman each month asking her twenty questions. You can listen to the podcast here. As a thank you gift, I bought each woman a copy of this book. This is one of my favourite discoveries in this project, a wonderful anthology on the world’s languages/dialects that … Continue reading Fiji 🇫🇯: A Privileged Life Denied by Sarote Fotfiri Erasito (tr. Sarote Fotfiri Erasito) in Poems from the Edge of Extinction: An Anthology of Poetry in Endangered Languages (Ed. Chris McCabe)

Azerbaijan 🇦🇿: Days in the Caucasus by Banine, tr. by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova

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In a Nutshell: Days in the Caucasus, originally published in Paris in 1945, is Banine’s memoir of her childhood in Baku, from when she was born (1905) until she left for Paris in 1923. It was translated into English in 2019. Parisian Days, the kind of sequel to Days in the Caucasus was published earlier … Continue reading Azerbaijan 🇦🇿: Days in the Caucasus by Banine, tr. by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova

Italy 🇮🇹: The Little Virtues by Natalia Ginzburg, tr. Dick Davis

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Back in 2o19, I was living in Tanzania. The week before Christmas, my husband and I were visiting family and friends in the UK. On one of the final days of our trips, I went Christmas shopping, the final stop was in Daunt Books in Marylebone, London, I was just about to pay for my … Continue reading Italy 🇮🇹: The Little Virtues by Natalia Ginzburg, tr. Dick Davis

Georgia 🇬🇪: The Eighth Life (for Brilka) by Nino Haratischvili, tr. by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin

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Observations: The Eighth Life (for Brilka) is the 2020 winner of the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. For more about the prize, read here. I read this wonderful book whilst away on holiday with my husband, I was 3-4 months pregnant, we were on a road trip around Cambodia: visiting Chhlong/Kratie, Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri. This … Continue reading Georgia 🇬🇪: The Eighth Life (for Brilka) by Nino Haratischvili, tr. by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin

Vietnam 🇻🇳: Ru by Kim Thuy, tr. by Sheila Fischman

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In a Nutshell: Translated from French (beautifully translated by Fischman, I may add), Thuy's fictionalised memoir, Ru is her debut novel.  Born into a wealthy Vietnamese family during the Tet Offensive, the main character, as a girl, she flees Vietnam, she endures an arduous boat journey and a Malaysian refugee camp before arriving in Granby, … Continue reading Vietnam 🇻🇳: Ru by Kim Thuy, tr. by Sheila Fischman