Belletrista - A site promoting translated women authored literature from around the world
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Roma Tearne: Weaving the Political and the Personal. Joyce Nickel gives us an in-depth look at the Sri Lankan author and her work.

Julie Wakeman-Linn: Kathleen Ambrogi reviews her novel Chasing the Leopard Finding the Lion, and talks with the author.

Sefi Atta's bold new novel is about more than African identity. . . Read chapter one of A Bit of Difference.

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Reviews
Click on 'Reviews' to see the full list of this issue's reviews...
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FAREWELL: A MANSION IN OCCUPIED ISTANBUL
Ayse Kulin
Translated from the Turkish by Kenneth J. Dakan

Like the story of the blind men and an elephant, the answer to the question, "What type of book is this?" will depend greatly upon your perspective. Some might describe Farewell as an adventure set during the Turkish War of Independence. Kamal is a radical supporter of …
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Reviewed by Tad Deffler
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THE THIRD DAY
Chochana Boukhobza
Translated from the French by Alison Anderson

Distinguished cellist Elisheva and her protégée Rachel arrive in Jerusalem for a three-day visit. The culmination of their sojourn will be a concert performance featuring Rachel as the soloist. On that same day, the third day, Elisheva plans to assassinate The Butcher of Majdanek, her torturer during World War II.
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Reviewed by Amanda Meale
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IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN
Vaddey Ratner

Imagine that you are a five-year-old princess of the Cambodian monarchy, living a life of luxury, surrounded by love and a large family. Then imagine that one day your family is violently jettisoned into the countryside with the rest of the urban population, and everything you know is destroyed.
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Reviewed by Lisa Sanders
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THE MURDER OF HALLAND
Pia Juul
Translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken

With a glut of Scandinavian crime fiction entering English translation it would be easy to overlook Pia Juul's The Murder of Halland. However, Juul is one of Denmark's most celebrated literary writers, and her foray into 'Scandi Crime' is a surprising subversion of the genre, rather than an attempt to jump on a bandwagon.
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Reviewed by Andy Barnes
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BUILDING WAVES
Taeko Tomioka
Translated from the Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai

First published in Japan almost thirty years ago and now translated into English this year, Building Waves is a fictional and highly symbolic look at the social changes washing over Japan in the early 1980s. These changes include women moving out of their traditional roles…
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Reviewed by Joyce Nickel
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THREE STRONG WOMEN
Marie NDiaye
Translated from the French by John Fletcher

Three Strong Women concerns the lives of three women of Senegalese descent, each of whom faces a personal crisis. The stories are set in modern day Senegal or in France, the former colonizer of that West African country…
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Reviewed by Darryl Morris


Angélica Gorodischer Book Cover
The noted and versatile Argentinian author has a newly translated novel forthcoming in February. Read an excerpt of Trafalgar.
Uzma Aslam Khan Book Cover
A tribute to the nomadic peoples in the mountains of Pakistan and its border neighbors, Uzma's new novel Thinner Than Skin is also a love story. Read an excerpt.
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