Welcome to America – by Linda Bostrom Knausgard

The story of Ellen, the 11-year old girl who stopped talking after her father died (because she felt guilty she … More

A Girl Returned – by Donatella Di Pietrantonio

“I was the Arminuta, the girl returned. I spoke another language, I no longer knew who I belonged to. The … More

In just 125 pages, Nothomb addressed many different social issues in this partly autobiographical, partly epistolary novel: the gorging of … More

In this slim novel, Kawakami tells the ins and outs of the daily operation of a second-hand shop, and her … More

This book contains two novellas, Kitchen and Moonlight Shadow. The two protagonists are both female college students suffering from the … More

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Kawabata usually chose one aspect of Japanese culture to feature in his novels: … More

I found it fascinating that each of Kawabata’s novels covers different Japanese traditions, be it tea ceremony, No mask, mountain … More

The Sound of the Mountain is a novel set in post war Japan. Shingo Ogata is a 59 year old … More

The Life before Us (La Vie devant soi) portrays a heartbreaking parental love story between a sensitive and prematurely wise … More