6 Stunning Reads by Women in Translation

Monsieur Perdu is a book doctor who treats his customers’ aching hearts by hand-selecting the perfect read for them. But the one person he can’t seem to heal is himself. On a quest to find his own happy ending, he heads to the South of France to find closure with the woman who left him years ago. (Translated from German by Simon Pare.)

Set in 14th-century Norway, Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset’s trilogy (now compiled into one volume) follows the independent-minded daughter of an affluent farmer through her daily life, social obligations and personal relationships set within the political and religious context of Medieval Norway. (Translated from Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally.)

Written by the great-grand niece of Leo Tolstoy, The Slynx takes place 200 years after “the blast” that ended civilization. A government scribe named Benedikt, who lives on the site of Moscow and has a job, a home, plenty of mice to eat and no mutations, has so far managed to avoid the screeching Slynx that waits in the wilderness in this dystopian tale. (Translated from Russian by Jamey Gambrell.)

The story of three generations of the Trueba family in Chile commences with the patriarch, Esteban and his wife Clara, who possesses paranormal gifts; followed by their daughter Blanca, who has an affair with a man her father deems beneath her, only to bear his beloved granddaughter Alba, who grows up to be a revolutionary force both within her family and her country. (Translated from Spanish by Magda Bogin.)

Growing up in Mexico on the U.S. border, Tita’s only dream is to marry her neighbor, Pedro. But she is beholden to her family tradition that the youngest daughter never marries and instead takes care of her aging mother. Her passion comes out in her cooking and each of the twelve chapters (named for each month of the year) starts with a Mexican recipe that is tied to events in Tita’s life. (Translated from Spanish by Carol and Thomas Christensen.)

A writer hires a highly-recommended, but unpredictable and mysterious housekeeper with a foul mouth and a secretive nature, only to develop a 20-year friendship with the woman that leads to an unshakable bond. (Translated from Hungarian by Len Rix.)