Vertiginous and gritty, Andrzej Tichý’s novel "Wretchedness" depicts the seamier side of Europe’s society. Cody is a cellist for an avant-garde ensemble, and Tichý’s narrative weaves in and out of his drug-infused past. While... Read More

Set during World War II, Endō Shūsaku’s novel "Sachiko" shifts from the fated city of Nagasaki to the horrors of Auschwitz, developing versatile individual and intersecting perspectives with compassion. Christianity is not native to... Read More

In Sten Nadolny’s masterful "The Joy of Sorcery", magic, love, and family illuminate a tragic time in world history. Pahroc is the sorcerer son of a Paiute Indian man and a Berliner woman. In a series of letters to his young... Read More

Ryad Girod’s haunting novel, Mansour’s Eyes, is threaded with Middle Eastern cultural and geopolitical sagas. Hussein was an anguished observer on the day his friend, Mansour, was led through the streets and decapitated in the main... Read More

Though much of it is set among the dead, Valérie Perrin’s "Fresh Water for Flowers" is an exuberant novel whose thoughtful treatments of family tragedies are alchemistic. Abandoned at birth, Violette was shunted between disinterested... Read More

Inès Bayard’s novel This Little Family, translated from French, is about the devastating aftermath of a rape. Raised in a loving household outside of Paris, Marie moves into the city as an adult. She works, dines out, and promenades... Read More

In Francis Carsac’s newly translated science fiction classic "The City Among the Stars", Earth’s Empire is falling, and Tanker, a lieutenant within the Stellar Guard, is tasked with delivering a message that could turn the tide. When... Read More

Maryse Condé’s "The Wondrous and Tragic Life of Ivan and Ivana" is a gripping story in which a twin brother and sister grow up in the turbulent atmosphere of Guadeloupe. Exploring extremism, corruption, desire, immigration, poverty,... Read More