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Belletrista - A site promoting translated women authored literature from around the world
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Carol Emshwiller's witty, endearing, and delightfully odd story, "Grandma"

"Red Blood on White Snow" an excerpt from Albanian author Ornela Vorpsi's The Country Where No One Ever Dies

Awards and Nominations: Great books for your "to be read" piles

Welcome to a new year of Belletrista! We have exciting plans for 2011, including two themed issues. In this issue we present all the things you've come to expect in an issue of Belletrista, but we are always trying to improve, and are consistently on the look-out for new ideas. In this issue we offer our readers two excerpts from new or forthcoming books as not only a way to sample what these books have to offer, but also as a means of introducing talented writers. In our New & Notable section, we have given Canadian books its own section, bringing it out from underneath the shadow of its literarily larger neighbor, the United States, to make it easier for you, our readers, to explore this country's literature. If you have something to say about any of the books or authors we feature, we invite you to visit our blog, "If Written by a Woman", and share them. Happy Reading!

Reviews
Click on 'Reviews' to see the full list of this issue's reviews...
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I WANT TO GET MARRIED!
Ghada Abdel Aal
Translated from the Arabic by Nora Eltahawy

Everyone has a dating horror story—an annoying fix-up, a disastrous dinner, or an awkward lack of conversational points. In I Want to Get Married!, Ghada Abdel Aal, an Egyptian woman quickly approaching "old maid" status, shares her quest to find a husband, showing that while marriage customs may differ across the world, dating is a universally horrible experience.
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Reviewed by Caitlin Fehir
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THE SENTIMENTALISTS
Johanna Skibrud

Put the words Vietnam War and Canada in a sentence together and, for Americans of a certain age—particularly men—you conjure specific memories of the early 1970s. I remember those days as quite carefree: wondering about my chances of a date and thankful I could pass for 18 in the local bar. Yet, is my memory reliable?
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Reviewed by Tad Deffler
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BUTTERFLY
Sonja Hartnett

Plum is an ordinary Australian girl who is approaching her fourteenth birthday. Physically, academically and socially Plum is entirely unexceptional. Like many teenagers she finds her parents (and their antique-collecting) embarrassing.
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Reviewed by Amanda Meale
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AMANDINE
Marlena de Blasi

Set in Poland and France between the two world wars, this debut novel by acclaimed travel writer Marlena de Blasi has an intriguing premise but promises more than it delivers. Amandine is the illegitimate granddaughter of a beautiful Polish aristocrat. Countess Valeska Czartoryska lost her husband to a shameless and tragic love affair …
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Reviewed by Dorothy Dudek Vinicombe
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PICTURES OF YOU
Caroline Leavitt

Two unconnected women, April and Isabelle, pack up and leave their husbands one misty day, but tragedy strikes. Isabelle does not see April's car in the deep fog until it is too late. Their cars collide and …
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Reviewed by Akeela Gaibie-Dawood


CONVERSATIONS:
Book Cover: Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits
Three readers discuss Laila Lalami's novella, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits
If Written By a Woman
Visit our new Belletrista blog!
The Caine Prize for African Writing 2011 – shortlist announced

The shortlist for this year’s Caine Prize has just been announced and three women are in the running for the prestigious award. This is always an exciting time of year – the Prize is a great way to discover short stories by excellent writers. Lucky for us, the Prize’s website links to a copy of …Read the Rest