Category: Translation

Book Review: No Touching by Ketty Rouf

This month is Women in Translation month. And the stark fact is I don’t read enough translated fiction. So this month I have been trying to put that right and when Europa Editions contacted me about No Touching by Ketty Rouf , translated from the French by Tina Kover I had a strong inkling this one was for me.

This is the story of Josephine, ground down by her job as a high school philosophy teacher, who finds a new way of living when she walks into a Champs-Elysee strip club.

Here begins her double life. Tired and uninspired teacher by day, risqué dancer by night. Her life in the club provides her with a new insight on the world and her own being. Through her night time persona, Rose Lee, she learns to fall in love with her body. She learns about the power of dancing for men, about how she can manipulate and stoke their desire. From the other women she learns the rules both spoken and unspoken and begins to find strength in female company, something she has never experienced before.

But this is a dangerous game. Working day and night leaves Josephine tired and keeping the two worlds separate is a challenge. One night the inevitable happens; her two worlds collide and she is forced to reassess where her life is heading, forced to decide if the risks she takes are worth the pay off.

This is a novel that gets to the heart of desire and power. It is dappled by light and shade, forcing the reader to reevaluate their expectations and stereotypes, whilst at the same time encouraging to look beyond the norm.

Josephine is a complex character; she is intelligent and increasingly aware of her own being. Brave enough to step outside of her world but wary of choices which might take her too far. She isn’t static, she is continually evolving. She is written with challenge and complexity at the fore.

It is a novel dripping in richness. Each page is evocative of a time and place. Be it the ridiculous and absurd directives of the Education system, or the dark seductive underworld of the strip club, these pages will tease, tantalise and challenge you. They will pull you right into the heart of the action and hold you just where you need to be.

Winner of the prestigious Prix du Premier Roman 2020 this is the perfection addition to you Women in Translation reading list. Be prepared to be dazzled.

Rachel x

Book Review : The Field by Robert Seethaler

A beautiful book in translation is something I don’t read enough of. So this month I have been indulging myself. The Field by Robert Seethaler translated from the German by Charlotte Collins has been, quite simply perfect.

This is the story of a field, a field now a graveyard. The final resting place for the villagers of this provincial town. And with death, which is the ultimate leveller, comes a series of stories told by the grave’s inhabitants. It is an idea that is quite breathtaking, both in it’s simplicity and it’s flawless execution.

Each story is unique, both in content and style. These are are told by people young and old, rich and poor. Those who lived lives that were full and content, that died fulfilled. Those whose lives were short, bitter and brief. And those who fall in between.

Some stories focus on just one event, however trivial or unimportant it may seem. Some stories are longer, comprehensive and encompass the full course and content of life, loss and love. Each on their own is a gem, a window into a community. Taken together, threaded into a single strand they form a picture of a town. A community shaped by those who have worked, lived, loved and died there.

This collection of tales, woven together, is a lesson in how life is layered over time, over generations and with small interconnecting stories that both strengthen and fracture the community they encounter.

A web of styles, of emotions and characters, this is a book that will keep you reading to the end. As always Camilla Elworthy has sent me a smasher.

The Field by Robert Seethaler is published by Picador and is out today

Rachel x