Translated from German by Sandra HarperPublished by Vintage, 2002, 256 pages. Original version published in 1997. Konrad Lang is losing his memory to Alzheimer’s. As his recent memories fade, earlier ones come to the fore. This has Elvira Koch worried. There are secrets buried in Konrad’s mind which, if he unearths, could bring down her …
The Joys of Train Travel: An Interview with Monisha Rajesh
Monisha Rajesh is a British journalist and travel writer. Her first book, Around India in 80 Trains, was selected by The Independent as one of the top ten books on India in 2012. Monisha’s second book, Around the World in 80 Trains, won the 2020 National Geographic Traveller Book of the Year and was shortlisted …
Continue reading The Joys of Train Travel: An Interview with Monisha Rajesh
Outlandish—Walking Europe’s Unlikely Landscapes: Nick Hunt
Published by John Murray Press, 2021, 288 pages. “...the idea that wonder, mystery, awe, new worlds and undiscovered realms might lie a train ride away, rather than on a carbon-intensive flight to the far side of the globe, opened up possibilities for a different type of travel. What other unlikely landscapes might be lurking out …
Continue reading Outlandish—Walking Europe’s Unlikely Landscapes: Nick Hunt
Tomb of Sand: Geetanjali Shree
Translated from Hindi by Daisy RockwellPublished by Tilted Axis Press, 2021, 320 pages. Original version published in 2018. Tomb of Sand is the story of Ma, an 80-year-old woman who comes into her own after spending her life in roles dictated by society: as daughter, wife, mother and grandmother. When the book begins, Ma’s husband …
This Tilting World: Colette Fellous
Translated from French by Sophie LewisPublished by Les Fugitives, 2019, 190 pages. Original version published in 2017. “[B]ut now it’s over, my novel is damaged, the world is damaged, I too am deeply wounded, something has happened here, something real, but everything can still begin, everything can begin again, I firmly believe it... “I must …
Mother’s Beloved—Stories from Laos: Outhine Bounyavong
Translated from Lao by Bounheng Inversin, Roger Rumpf, Jacqui Chagnon, Thipason Phimviengkham and William GallowayPublished by University of Washington Press, 1999, 198 pages. A poor cobbler finds a way to make his contribution to his country's war effort; a young man offers strangers lifts on his bicycle; and a young woman tries to return a …
Continue reading Mother’s Beloved—Stories from Laos: Outhine Bounyavong
XX—A Novel, Graphic: Rian Hughes
Published by Picador, 2020, 992 pages. “...the Signal might already have the ability to manipulate its environment in subtle ways. In minds, where it can be thought, an idea can finally find some kind of expression. It can influence the behaviour of the person who thinks it. It can inspire people to spread the idea. …
Domestic Thrillers and Rural Communities: An Interview with Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Gail Anderson-Dargatz is a Canadian writer. Her first novel, The Cure for Death by Lightning, won the UK’s Betty Trask Award, the BC Book Prize for Fiction, and the VanCity Book Prize, and was a finalist for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her other books …
Continue reading Domestic Thrillers and Rural Communities: An Interview with Gail Anderson-Dargatz
The Almost Wife: Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Published by Harper Avenue, 2021, 304 pages. “What you see in the bush is rarely what’s really there.” Kira is engaged to the handsome and rich Aaron with whom she has a child, Evie. They live in a beautiful house with Olive, Aaron’s 13-year-old daughter from his first marriage. Aaron loves his daughters and seems …
The Amur River—Between Russia and China: Colin Thubron
Published by Chatto & Windus, 2021, 304 pages. “Across the heart of Asia, at the ancient convergence of steppe and forest, the grasslands of Mongolia move towards Siberia in a grey-green sea. ... “Somewhere deep in this hinterland rises one of the most formidable rivers on earth. It drains a basin twice the size of …
Continue reading The Amur River—Between Russia and China: Colin Thubron
Talking About Books 