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Explore Africa! Click here to go to reviews of 20 great books written by African women.
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We interview Najat El-Hachmi, author of The Last Patriarch.
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Specters by Egyptian author Radwa Ashour, Chapter One
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Reviews
Click on 'Reviews' to see the full list of this issue's reviews...
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REDEMPTION IN INDIGO
Karen Lord
Barbadian author Karen Lord's Redemption in Indigo is based on a Senegalese folk tale which opens in the village of Makendha. Paama, an ordinary and good hearted woman whose cooking skills are revered throughout the region, has moved back home two years previously to live with her parents after leaving her husband Ansige, a gluttonous and arrogant man-child whose incessant demands became too much for his wife to satisfy.
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Reviewed by Darryl Morris
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THIS WILL GO DOWN ON YOUR PERMANENT RECORD
Susannah Felts
This Will Go Down On Your Permanent Record defies categorisation; it is not merely a coming of age story, but neither is it a sugary high school drama nor a moralistic critique of the potential pitfalls of teenage life. This debut novel focuses on the importance of friendship and the lessons learned as you grow up—sometimes surprising lessons—about what real friendship means.
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Reviewed by Ceri Evans
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HOTEL BOSPHORUS
Esmahan Aykol
Translated from the Turkish by Ruth Whitehouse
Kati Hirschel is a young German bookseller who loves living in Istanbul and running a shop that specializes in mysteries and crime novels. She enjoys spending time with her Turkish friends, and her life …
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Reviewed by Maggie Oldendorf
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ADIOS, HAPPY HOMELAND!
Ana Menéndez
How does one escape? From what one does one need to escape? Why? Ana Menéndez's new collection of interlinked tales is all about escape artists, starting with the author herself. Each tale is attributed to a concocted author, for whom Menéndez has supplied an appropriately imaginative biographical note, including one for herself: "Ana Menéndez is the pseudonym of an imaginary writer and translator, invented, if not to lend coherence to this collection, at least to offer it the pretense of contemporary relevance."
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Reviewed by Jane A. Jones
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THE HUT OF FALLEN PERSIMMONS
Adriana Lisboa
Translated from the Portuguese by Sarah Green
It is interesting to read a book that you are certain will be a love story—though you aren't sure whether happy or ill-fated, requited or unrequited—only to find yourself perpetually poised, waiting for that romance to start. Haruki, an illustrator of books, and Celina, an embroidery artist, meet by chance on a subway in Rio de Janeiro.
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Reviewed by Tad Deffler
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Ali Smith's There But For the

An extended review by Rachael Beale
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If Written By a Woman
Visit our new Belletrista blog!
The Caine Prize for African Writing 2011 – shortlist announcedThe 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
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