Suraiya Hasan Bose—Weaving a Legacy: Radhika Singh

Published by Tarapress, 2019, 176 pages. Suraiya Hasan Bose—Weaving a Legacy: Radhika Singh “Suraiya Hasan Bose is a name inscribed into the craft map of Andhra Pradesh. It speaks of a lifetime of passion and commitment to the cause of handloom from pre-Independence India to the present day.” This book pays tribute to Suraiya Hasan …

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Shuggie Bain: Douglas Stuart

Published by Picador, 2020, 448 pages. Shuggie Bain is a compelling story about addiction and its fallout, set in the working-class community in Glasgow. Shuggie Bain’s mother Agnes is an alcoholic. Shuggie’s father Big Shug, a taxi driver, is Agnes’s second husband. She has two children, Catherine and Leek, from her first husband. Agnes and …

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Flights: Olga Tokarczuk

Translated from Polish by Jennifer CroftPublished by Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2018, 416 pages. Original version published in 2007. “Clearly I did not inherit whatever gene it is that makes it so that when you linger in a place you start to put down roots. I’ve tried, a number of times but my roots have always been …

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Lifting the Veil: Selected Writings of Ismat Chugtai

Selected and translated from Urdu by M. Asaduddin with additional translations by Ralph RussellPublished by Penguin, 2001, 261 pages. “In my stories, I’ve put down everything with objectivity. Now, if people find them obscene, let them go to hell. It’s my belief that experiences can never be obscene if they are based on authentic realities …

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Travels through Switzerland: An Interview with Diccon Bewes

Photo: Diccon Bewes Diccon Bewes is a writer who was born in the UK but has lived in Switzerland for many years, and is now a Swiss citizen. His books include Slow Train to Switzerland, where he retraces the journey of Jemima Morrell who was part of Thomas Cook’s first tour of the country in …

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The Woman in White: Wilkie Collins

Published by Penguin, / Bantam Doubleday Dell / Everyman's Library / Oxford University Press, 1860, 719 pages. “There, in the middle of the broad, bright high-road—there, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth or dropped from the heaven—stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white …

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Station Eleven: Emily St. John Mandel

Published by Random House, 2015, 335 pages. A performance of King Lear: the actor playing King Lear, Arthur Leander, is forgetting his lines and acting odd. He collapses with a heart attack. The curtain quickly comes down, Jeevan Chaudhary, a paramedic who happens to be in audience, rushes to help him. An ambulance is called, …

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The Thursday Murder Club: Richard Osman

Published by Penguin, 2020, 400 pages. If you’re looking for a light read with a bit of murder thrown in, then look no further. Richard Osman has written a delightful whodunit, set in an upscale retirement village in the UK. Septuagenarians Joyce, Elizabeth, Ibrahim and Ron live at Coopers Chase, a retirement village. They form …

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Black Water Lilies: Michel Bussi

Translated from French by Shaun WhitesidePublished by W&N, 2022, 144 pages. Original version published in 2011. Giverny: a beautiful, picturesque village in France, known for its most famous resident, the impressionist painter Claude Monet, who is famous for his paintings of water lilies. Artists and tourists flock to the village to see the beautiful gardens …

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Reading the World: An Interview with Ann Morgan

Photo: Aida Silvestri Ann Morgan is a writer based in the UK who has inspired readers by her project, A Year of Reading the World. In 2012, she read a book from every country in the world and blogged about it. Her blog highlights the richness and diversity of books, including those not originally published …

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