This is an archived issue of Belletrista. If you are looking for the current issue, you can find it here
Belletrista - A site promoting translated women authored literature from around the world
Photo of Ludmilla Petrushevskaya Book Cover Photo of Sarah Hall

'Be Careful Out There, Be Careful in Here: The Dangerous Worlds of Ludmilla Petrushevskaya' by Tim Jones

An extended review of Hillary Jordan's When She Woke explores this thoughtful, modern re-telling of a classic.

'Eyes for the Grotesque Things in Life': A Conversation with Sarah Hall

`
Reviews
Click on 'Reviews' to see the full list of this issue's reviews...
Book cover
THE GOLDSMITH'S SECRET
Elia Barceló
Translated from the Spanish by David Frye

Imagine that you are a successful but lonely middle aged man, whose heart was broken years ago by the only woman you've ever loved. You are provided one opportunity to meet her again, without knowing …
READ MORE

Reviewed by Darryl Morris
Book cover
THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC
Julie Otsuka

Julie Otsuka, author of the wonderful When the Emperor was Divine, has produced an exceptional novel in The Buddha in the Attic. It is a novel seemingly without plot and seemingly without characters. Yet the characters exist.
READ MORE

Reviewed by Judy Lim
Book cover
AN ACCIDENT IN AUGUST
Laurence Cossé
Translated from the French by Alison Anderson

I am sure that most people, certainly in the United Kingdom, can remember where they were when the death of Diana, Princess of Wales was announced. It was an event of such magnitude in the consciousness of the British public, or at least …
READ MORE

Reviewed by Ceri Evans
Book cover
THE SHADOW-BOXING WOMAN
Inka Parei
Translated from the German by Katy Derbyshire

It's taken twelve years for Inka Parei's first novel to be translated into English, but there's nothing about this book that feels dated. The protagonist, a young woman called Hell (light), lives in a dilapidated apartment block …
READ MORE

Reviewed by Charlotte Simpson
Book cover
ALICE
Judith Hermann
Translated from the German by Margot Bettauer Dembo

The five short stories in this slim volume have two things in common: an introspective protagonist, and death. We meet Alice as she quietly ruminates …
READ MORE

Reviewed by Akeela Gaibie Dawood


"A Kingdom for a Kalashnikov" by Andrea Heiberg Book Cover
A short story from her collection, Next Stop: Sejer Island
Links We Like
Bookmark and Share