Author Archives: mandywight

Black Car Burning by Helen Mort

Posted on May 13, 2024 by mandywight

The title might make you think it’s a novel about an urban riot, but in fact Black Car Burning is the name of a challenging climb in the Peak District, just outside Sheffield. You wouldn’t be wrong in making that … Continue reading →

Posted in Books in English, Nature Writing, Uncategorized, Writers from Derbyshire and Sheffield | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Un Amor by Sara Mesa, translated by Katie Whittemore

Posted on May 2, 2024 by mandywight

I really enjoyed Sara Mesa’s short story collection Mala Letra (Bad Handwriting) so was delighted to find that Pereine Press are now publishing her novel Un Amor in English translation. Some of the same themes in the short story collection … Continue reading →

Posted in Books in Spanish, Books in Translation | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

True North- Selected Stories by Sara Maitland

Posted on April 28, 2024 by mandywight

I’ve been a great fan of Sara Maitland’s writing over the years, so was thrilled to discover that Manchester’s Comma Press have just published True North, a selection of  short stories written over her impressive 40 year career. It’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Short Stories, short stories by women | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Volver la vista atras- Retrospective by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated by Anne Mclean.

Posted on April 26, 2024 by mandywight

This most recent novel by Juan Gabriel Vasquez focuses on the life of Colombian film director Sergio Cabrera. The frame story is Sergio’s trip to Barcelona, where a retrospective festival of his films is taking place. Just before the festival … Continue reading →

Posted in Books in Spanish, Books in Translation, Books set in South America | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not A River by Selva Almada translated by Annie McDermott

Posted on April 11, 2024 by mandywight

Not A River, shortlisted for this year’s International Booker Prize 2024, is the final novel in a trilogy about masculinity by Argentinian writer Selva Almada, following on from Brickmakers and The Wind That Lays Waste. The International Booker Prize recognises … Continue reading →

Posted in Books in Spanish, Books in Translation, Books set in South America, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Forgottenness by Tanja Maljartschuk, translated by Zenia Tompkins.

Posted on March 22, 2024 by mandywight

There are two parallel stories in Tanja Maljartschuk’s novel Forgottenness. It’s the story of Viacheslav Lypynskyi, born in 1882, an important figure in the early 20th century struggle for Ukrainian independence. It’s also the story of the narrator, a young … Continue reading →

Posted in Books in Translation, Books on Ukraine, History, Memoir, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

La Carte Postale- Anne Berest

Posted on March 13, 2024 by mandywight

On 6th January 2003 a postcard arrives at the home of Lélia and Pierre. It’s an old postcard of the Paris Opera Garnier, with four names written on the back: Ephraïm, Emma, Noémie and Jacques.  These are the names of … Continue reading →

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Vengeance is Mine-by Marie Ndiaye, translated by Jordan Stump.

Posted on March 4, 2024 by mandywight

The protagonist of this deeply unsettling novel is Maitre Susane, a young female lawyer practising in Bordeaux, who has recently set up on her own. She’s rather surprised one day to be consulted by a man called Gilles Principaux to … Continue reading →

Posted in Books in French, Books in Translation | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

We would have told each other everything-Wir haetten uns alles gesagt- Judith Hermann

Posted on February 26, 2024 by mandywight

I was a keen reader of German writer Judith Hermann a little while back, loving her cool, distanced tone and elegant sentences. After a little gap since Letti Park, she’s come back into my life, through the excerpt of Wir … Continue reading →

Posted in Books in German, Memoir | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Sisters in Arms by Shida Bazyar translated by Ruth Martin

Posted on February 21, 2024 by mandywight

The writer Shida Bazyar told us at the recent Goethe Institut event that Sisters in Arms, longlisted for the German Book Prize 2021, was partly inspired by Erich Maria Remarque’s book Three Comrades. She’d been intrigued by the pull of … Continue reading →

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