Belletrista

This is an archived issue of Belletrista. If you are looking for the current issue, you can find it here


TRIO! Ceri Evans discusses three books by Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif.	"Seven Little Rooms" - original fiction by notable Hindi author Mridula Garg.	Who Has the Power? Reading Arab Women in English by M. Lynx Qualey

Welcome, readers, to our sixth issue! Besides our regular review section featuring an array of intriguing books, and the tantalizing previews of new books in our New & Notable section, we have provided you with a compelling mix of fascinating articles this issue. There is a thought-provoking piece on reading the work of Arab Women in translation, one of our "Trios" explores three books by Ahdaf Soueif, and we report back from the splashy Book Expo America. In this issue we are honored to introduce to our readers the eminent Indian author Mridula Garg with two pieces: the first is an original short story translated from the Hindi by the author herself, and a second piece by Sunita Jain on Ms. Garg's place in literature.

We hope you enjoy this wonderful issue and with it we complete our first year of celebrating literature written by women all over the world! Thank you for being a part of our reading community.

Reviews
Click on 'Reviews' to see the full list of this issue's reviews...

THE LINE

Olga Gruskin

Once there was a line. It was a line leading to a kiosk. What was being sold in the kiosk, nobody knew. But those who stood in line lived in hope that the reward for their waiting would be something interesting or useful. The kiosk was almost always shut with signs saying, "Gone to the parade" or "Closed for accounting. Be back on Monday" or "Out with the flu. Will reopen in January."
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Reviewed by Jane Anderson Jones

INFINITY IN THE PALM OF HER HAND

Gioconda Belli

Translated from the Spanish by Sayers Peden

I love retellings of popular stories (fairy tales, the King Arthur legend, fables), love venturing into familiar territory in an unfamiliar way, seeing how an author can give a voice to characters previously on the sidelines. In Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand, Gioconda Belli tackles the story of Adam and Eve…
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Reviewing by Caitlin Fehir

THE HEART SPECIALIST

Claire Holden Rothman

I raced through this novel at one sitting (it's a missing-your-bus-stop kind of a read) and then went back to re-read more slowly. Claire Holden Rothman, inspired by the life of Dr Maud Abbott (1869-1940), one of Montreal's first female doctors, loosely based this engrossing story on Abbott's experiences.
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Reviewed by Chris Mills

THE WOMEN MY FATHER KNEW

Savyon Liebrecht

Trasnslated from the Hebrew by Sondra Silverston

At the age of seven, Meir left his father in Tel Aviv to join his mother in the United States. Straightaway he was told that his father had died. At that moment, all memories of his first seven years died, too.
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Reviewed by Kathleen Ambrogi