Fiction in translation

Following the Kempowski family from the months before the outbreak of war through to the fall of Berlin, 'An Ordinary Youth' is the fascinating story of an ordinary childhood in extraordinary times. Here, Walter's academic struggle sits alongside his father's conscription; his brother's love of j...

What happened to Lara? Iceland, 1956. Fifteen-year-old Lára spends the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. The mystery becomes Iceland's greatest unsolved case. What happened to the youn...

There is no love lost between the Oslo and Bergen branches of the powerful Falck family. So when its steely matriarch dies with no will to be found, the seeds of an inheritance dispute are sown. Yet her legacy could be more damaging still. A manuscript confiscated by the secret police in the seve...

Kyiv, 1919. The Soviets control the city, but White armies menace them from the West. No man trusts his neighbour and any spark of resistance may ignite into open rebellion. When Samson Kolechko's father is murdered, his last act is to save his son from a falling Cossack sabre. Deprived of his ri...

Sentaro has failed: he has a criminal record, drinks too much, and hasn't managed to fulfil his dream of becoming a writer. Instead, he works in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the pas...

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for over 100 years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. This beautiful tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in ord...

Growing up within the walls of Grave's Orphanage, Nica's imagination burned with fantastical stories. Including that of The Tearsmith, a mysterious craftsman, guilty of having forged all the fears and anxieties in the world. When at seventeen, she's adopted by Mr and Mrs Mulligan, Nica thinks she...

Having married her childhood sweetheart, Riko now finds herself trapped in a relationship that has been soured by infidelity. One day, by chance, she runs into her old friend Mr Takaoka, who offers friendship, love, and an unusual escape: he teaches her the trick of living inside her dreams. And ...

Sitting alone, overlooking the still and blue lagoon, Ana Magdalena Bach surveys the men of the hotel bar. She is happily married and has no reason to escape the world she has made with her husband and children. And yet, every August, she travels here to the island where her mother is buried, and...

On the top floor of an old building at the end of a cobbled alley in Kyoto lies the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul. Only a select few - those who feel genuine emotional pain - can find it. The mysterious centre offers a unique treatment for its troubled patients: it prescribes cats as medication. Get...