THE LAST BROTHER
Nathacha Appanah
Translated from the French by Geoffrey Strachan
When David comes to him in a dream, Raj, now an old man, is transported back to his childhood over 60 years earlier, to a few months which were to mark his life for ever.
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Reviewed by Rachel Hayes
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ALL THIS BELONGS TO ME
Petra Hulová
Translated from the Czech by Alex Zucker
Tread the harsh, dusty Mongolian steppe with this nomadic family as they tend to the livestock and collect argal (firewood) to keep warm...
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Reviewed by Akeela Gaibie-Dawood
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COLD EARTH
Sarah Moss
'University academics' is not a phrase which generally conjures up thoughts of excitement, thrills and life-threatening danger....
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Reviewed by F. T. Huffkin
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INNOCENT WORLD
Ami Sakurai
Translated from the Japanese by Steven Clark
Innocent World may be a novella, but it generates the amount of discussion typical of tome-like novels or series. Its edgy content and even edgier messages led it to be passed around my workplace like contraband...
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Reviewed by Caitin Fehir
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BENEATH THE LION'S GAZE
Maaza Mengiste
This debut novel begins as Hailu, the patriarch of a successful family in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, operates on a young man who has sustained a bullet wound in his back that will paralyze him permanently. It is 1974, and Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia and the "King of Kings", is old, tired, and far removed from his country's numerous problems.
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Reviewed by Darryl Morris
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THE VERA WRIGHT TRILOGY
Elizabeth Jolley
In the three semi-autobiographical novels which make up this trilogy, Elizabeth Jolley follows the coming-of-age of Vera Wright, an unconventional woman trying to find her place in the world in the tumultuous upheaval and devastation of England during WWII.
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Reviewed by Cate Lombardo
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THE PASSPORT
Herta Müller
Translated from the German by Martin Chalmers
In this novella, Herta Müller paints a bleak picture of life in Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania, a world where men drink their paychecks away, striking miners are sent to freeze at a mountaintop sanatorium, and women prostitute themselves to survive or escape.
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Reviewed by Simone Cornelisson
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KALPA IMPERIAL
Angélica Gorodischer
Translated from the Spanish by Ursula K. Le Guin
Kalpa Imperial, the first book I have read by the eminent Argentine writer Angélica Gorodischer, is a fantasy—or, as the final story implies, perhaps a science fiction novel—set in an imagined empire with a lengthy history. But if the thought of another cookie-cutter epic fantasy fills you with dread...
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Reviewed by Tim Jones
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RUBY'S SPOON
Anna Lawrence Pietroni
Thirteen year old Ruby is growing up in Cradle Cross in the Black Country during the 1930s. It was an industrial but also rural part of England, dependent on the canal system for its trade.
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Reviewed by Charlotte Simpson
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VOICE OVER
Céline Curiol
Translated from the French by Sam Richard
She is invisible but we are all familiar with her voice. During the day, her voice is static, calm and dedicated to her job at the Gare du Nord station. As she announces times, destinations, and train platforms she watches others rush to far off destinations...
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Reviewed by C. Lariviere
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THE JEWISH HUSBAND
Lia Levi
Translated from the Italian by Anthony Shugaar
The Jewish Husband is a haunting, thought provoking novel about the desperate compromises made in the pursuit of love. Unconditional love collides with an increasingly prejudiced and oppressive society, and the tide of history.
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Reviewed by Ceri Evans
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MY BIRD
Fariba Vafi
Translated from the Persian by Mahnaz Kousha and Nasrin Jewell
Books written by Middle Eastern women are commonly selected for translation into English because they contain elements both familiar and exotic: through their struggles with oppressive religio-political systems or dangerous intercommunal conflicts, the women in these books reveal themselves to be "just like us" in their hopes and aspirations.
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Reviewed by F. P. Crawford
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PRIMEVAL AND OTHER TIMES
Olga Tokarczuk
Translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
In the heart of Poland lies the village of Primeval; according to Olga Tokarczuk, "Primeval is the place at the centre of the universe."
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Reviewed by Jane A. Jones
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DARK MATTER
Juli Zeh
Translated from the German by Christine Lo
There's a commonly-held perception that suspense novels are light reading, unchallenging brain candy for those in search of a bit of pulse-quickening excitement in the airport. Juli Zeh, a bestseller and multi-award winner in her native Germany, has decided to turn this notion on its head by writing a suspense novel about quantum physics.
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Reviewed by F. T. Huffkin
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MOONLIGHT IN ODESSA
Janet Skeslien Charles
Moonlight in Odessa might refer to the light cast by that silvery orb on the waters of the Black Sea, but in this compelling debut novel by Janet Skeslien Charles moonlight takes on worlds of other meanings for its chief character, Daria Kirilenko.
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Reviewed by Tui Menzies
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WENCH
Dolen Perkins-Valdez
To enter the world of Wench is to imagine oneself dying of thirst while surrounded by water, or starving while everyone else eats their fill. Using an unusual setting, Perkins-Valdez's debut novel illustrates the painful temptation that confronts a slave in a world where freedom hangs like forbidden fruit on every tree.
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Reviewed by Kathleen Ambrogi
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RIEN NE VA PLUS
Margarita Karapanou
Translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich
Is there any word more ambiguous than "love", asks the much-loved Greek author, Margarita Karapanou. Three characters declare their undying love for the object of their affection and proceed to play out their passion in the most bizarre and, sometimes, disturbing ways.
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Reviewed by Akeela Gaibie-Dawood
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HEAVEN OF DRUMS
Ana Gloria Moya
Translated from the Spanish by W. Nick Hill
Heaven of Drums is an ambitious little book which uses an interracial love triangle to build a narrative history of the independence of the author's native Argentina.
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Reviewed by Andy Barnes
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THE LAST RIVER CHILD
Lori Ann Bloomfield
Troubles plague the lives of the people of Walvern, a fictitious Canadian town rife with gossip, superstition, and scandal. However, alongside these troubles lies a story of hope, and the love a person can find amidst rejection.
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Reviewed by Caitlin Fehir
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THE PAPERBARK SHOE
Goldie Goldbloom
Goldie Goldbloom's debut novel, The Paperbark Shoe, serves as an example of the perseverance of the human spirit despite great adversity. Set in Western Australia during World War II, the story follows Gin as she endures great losses and makes great sacrifices while yearning for a happiness she seems unable to achieve.
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Reviewed by Kieran Jack
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MORNINGS IN JENIN
Susan Abulhawa
Mornings In Jenin, a first novel by Susan Abulhawa, is the story of one family's experience of exile from their West Bank home, and their subsequent struggles under military occupation and emigration.
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Reviewed by Barbara Steeg
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