The latest translated fiction roundup features a compelling selection of novels, including Mieko Kawakami's 'Sisters in Yellow', Ananda Devi's 'All Flesh', Luis López Carrasco's 'The White Desert', and Elin Anna Labba's 'The Home of the Drowned'. Each work offers a unique perspective on contemporary issues, from crime and body image to environmental destruction and cultural discrimination.
'Sisters in Yellow' by Mieko Kawakami
Kawakami's novel opens dramatically as narrator Hana learns that her old friend Kimiko has been charged with abduction. This inciting incident propels readers into their friendship in late-1990s Tokyo, where teenage Hana and the older Kimiko open a bar called Lemon, believing that 'yellow attracts money'. However, the venture quickly spirals into a world of organised crime. 'The world is crazy. I feel like I'm living in a manga,' Hana remarks, encapsulating the novel's frenetic energy. Kawakami's style prioritises exploration over explanation, with characters appearing and disappearing, buildings burning down, and cancer diagnoses occurring almost randomly. Despite the relentless pace, the narrative never becomes tedious. A standout scene involves Hana's unreliable mother seeking a loan of 2 million yen to invest in lingerie that supposedly 'helps your spine and organs move back to where they're supposed to be', blending absurdity and horror seamlessly.
'All Flesh' by Ananda Devi
Devi's novel begins with a disclaimer: 'Forgive me for starting this story with bodily, unpalatable origins.' Indeed, the narrative is unflinchingly physical. In an unnamed European country, a schoolgirl 'born with no urge but to consume' grows increasingly larger. 'My gut, my ass, my thighs – they were all set on reaching the farthest corners of the world,' she says, attributing her gluttony to the need to silence the voice of her dead twin sister, who was 'absorbed into my tissues' in the womb. Her self-disgust is compounded by school bullying. After a darkly comic incident where she becomes stuck in her bedroom doorframe like 'an uncooperative cork', she falls in love with the lonely carpenter who arrives to widen the door. However, further twists await. This powerful story is deeply physical yet driven by a compelling voice depicting the torment of a girl who embodies 'the psychical mirror of our time … immoderation made manifest'.
'The White Desert' by Luis López Carrasco
Carrasco's unpredictable book comprises five linked stories about a Spanish couple, beginning with the end of the world and growing increasingly strange. A balloon debate about a post-apocalyptic scenario turns violent when a participant pulls a knife—or believes he does. A plane crash-lands on an island, prompting the question: 'Can [we] go and get our luggage … Lots of people have, you know, soiled themselves.' The common thread is a sense of disconnection in a connected world, but the book subverts expectations. When a group celebrating New Year's Eve goes missing, it turns out to be a game of hide and seek. Footnotes peppered throughout suggest the events are viewed from the future, with references like 'Emirates was a well-known passenger airline'. Discovering what the white desert is reframes everything. For readers who enjoy connecting dots and appreciate a playful, original take on precarious modern life, this is a thought-provoking treat.
'The Home of the Drowned' by Elin Anna Labba
In 1942 Lapland, a village inhabited by the semi-nomadic Sámi people is flooded by a new hydroelectric dam. One family watches as their goahti (peat-covered hut) disappears underwater. 'It wasn't the nicest goahti,' says Ánne. 'No, but it was mine,' replies her sister Rávdná. When Rávdná seeks to build a replacement house, authorities refuse permission, rejecting the Sámi way of life while offering no alternatives. A local newspaper half-heartedly offers to publicise their case but notes that 'we receive a lot of angry letters if we use any foreign words'. When the government promises the dam 'will lift us out of poverty and injustice', the words drip with irony. This intimate story of infuriating discrimination, based on real events in Sweden, is a powerful testament to resilience in the face of systemic oppression.
