Belletrista

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


The absurdity of war and the mysteries of childhood merge in Icelandic author Kristín Ómarsdóttir's Children in Reindeer Woods. Read an excerpt here.	Turkish author Ayșe Kulin's Farwell: An Occupied Mansion in Istanbul tells the story of one particular family living in one particular house during the end of the Ottoman Empire. Read the story's beginning here.	Canadian Barbara Howard brings taxidermy and a baby celebration together with hilarious results in "Western Taxidermy" the title story in her new collection.

NEWS (October 2012): Dear Readers, this issue (17) is still the current issue of Belletrista. Due to a family crisis and ongoing situation, Belletrista has been offline for several months. The good news is that circumstances are beginning to lighten and we hope to have another fabulous issue online sometime this month. Thank you for bearing with us during this time.

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

CHILDREN IN REINDEER WOODS

Kristín Ómarsdóttir

Translated from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith

The opening scene of this novel left me reeling, and I remained rather stunned throughout the book. In a few short, staccato pages, Kristín Ómarsdóttir creates a world where the absurdity and casual brutality of war is played out …
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Reviewed by Lisa Sanders

WHEN THE NIGHT

Cristina Comencini

Translated from the Italian by Marina Harss

Marina is a young mother who is never quite certain that she really wanted children in the first place. She loves her toddler Marco with an almost obsessive fixation but she also despises his ability …
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Reviewed by Judy Lim

SACRIFICE

Karin Alvtegen

Translated from the Swedish by Steven T. Murray

Two women—worlds apart in their circumstances—struggle to come to terms with their respective pasts. Neither is able to move beyond the deep-seated pain they experienced as children, which torments them and robs them of their lives in the present.
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Reviewed by Akeela Gaibie Dawood

THE GIRL GIANT

Kristen Den Hartog

Ruth Brennan is a wonderful character. She is a giant, a girl who grows to enormous height, and her family struggles to cope by pretending all is normal until medical issues finally bring her condition into the open. Much more than a coming-of-age story …
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Reviewed by Lisa Sanders

Amalia Gladhart reviews Argentine author Liliana Heker's The End of the Story

Links We Like

Belletrista - Issue 17
May/June 2012

Our Belle bag is traveling! Can you tell where our bag is?
(click on the photo to find out!)

Archived Issues
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