Grove Atlantic is proud to publish world-renowned translations from some of the most significant voices in contemporary international literature. Spanning the globe from Japan to Greenland, these literary gems, otherworldly tales, and thrilling crime novels deserve a place on your TBR this August. Celebrate Women in Translation Month and earn some new stamps in your literary passport!

To learn more about Grove Atlantic’s legacy of and commitment to championing excellent works of literature in translation, check out our Editorial team’s discussion on the importance of publishing non-English language titles on the Edelweiss blog!

Literary Fiction

The Incredible Events in Women’s Cell Number 3 by Kira Yarmysh, translated from the Russian by Arch Tait

Winner of a PEN Translates Award
This startling and poignant debut novel from the former press secretary to late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny follows the story of a woman arrested at an anti-corruption rally in Moscow and the intimate bond she forms with her five cellmates who all come from a wide range of social classes and walks of life.

“An intimate look at political imprisonment.”—Dwight Garner, New York Times

 

The Sexual Life of Catherine M. by Catherine Millet, translated from French by Adriana Hunter

A New York Times bestselling memoir that chronicles an acclaimed French art critic’s thirty years of sexual exploits, widely acclaimed as one of the most bitingly intelligent explorations of sexuality to be published in decades.

“Holds you tighter than a pair of handcuffs . . . a rumination on the nature of desire and pleasure.”—Salon.com

 

Last Night in Nuuk by Niviaq Korneliussen, translated from Danish by Anna Halagar

A vibrant debut novel about a group of five young Greenlanders coming of age in the city of Nuuk, told in a blurry series of nights out and mornings after, it’s a stylistically breathtaking examination of navigating identity in one of the most isolated places in the world.

“A stunning book, at once audacious and honest, sorrowful and triumphant.”—NPR

 

Miss Iceland by Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir, translated from Icelandic by Brian FitzGibbon

From the winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize comes an extraordinary story of a woman who aspires to make it as a writer in 1960’s Reykjavik’s male-dominated literary scene.

“A potent, atmospheric story of creative frustration and fulfilment.”—Megan Hunter, author of The End We Start From

 

 

The Girl at the Door by Veronica Raimo, translated from Italian by Stash Luczkiw

An unnerving story of lust, power, and betrayal about a woman whose life is upended when a young girl arrives at her door and reveals that she has had a violent affair with the father of the woman’s unborn child.

“[A] fanged, elliptical tale . . . a crystalline, powerful novel.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 

 

Wonderfully Weird and Speculative Fiction

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

A spellbinding and dreamlike novel from the author of the bestselling cult-hit Convenience Store Woman that follows the story of a young girl who feels like an outsider in her own family and becomes convinced that she is an alien.

“Shocking, hilarious, and hugely, darkly entertaining.”—Financial Times

 

The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo, translated from Finnish by Lola Rogers

An intoxicating satire set in a Handmaid’s Tale-esque welfare state about a woman named Vanna, who is part of a new human sub-species bred solely for procreation, and her quest to find her missing sister.

“An intoxicating book, sizzling to look at and as spicy as a hot pepper.”—Weltexpress (Germany)

 

 

N.P. by Banana Yoshimoto, translated from Japanese by Ann Sherif

From one of Japan’s most renowned contemporary writers of speculative fiction, an enchanting and uncanny novel about a cursed book of short stories that drives each of the translators to suicide after attempting to translate the ninety-eighth story.

“[An] ethereally mesmerizing . . . novel of Japan’s Generation X.” —Martin Brady, Chicago Sun-Times

 

 

Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata, translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori

Nominated for the Dublin Literary Award

Set in an alternative version of Japan where sex between married couples has vanished and all children are born by artificial insemination; a woman moves to a mysterious new town called Paradise-Eden where children are raised communally.

“The Handmaid’s Tale on acid . . .  a radical look at the way the imperative to procreate has shaped civilization.”—New York Times

 

Thrillers and Suspense

Purge by Sofi Oksanen, translated from Finnish by Lola Rogers

An award-winning and breathtakingly suspenseful tale about the dark, unspoken history that binds two women together— Aliide, an older woman living in the Estonian countryside and Zara, a young sex-trafficking victim on the run from her captors. An international bestseller published in twenty-five languages, Purge is a fierce and compelling examination of the cost of survival and the corrosive effects of shame.

“A bravura work, deeply engaged with [Estonia’s] knotted history . . . stirring and humane.”—Jacob Silverman, The New Republic

 

Reptile Memoirs by Silje Ulstein, translated from Norwegian by Alison McCullough

A bestselling Norwegian literary thriller perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn. Shifting between the perspective of Liv, a young girl and new owner of a baby Burmese python, and Mariam, a mother desperately searching for her missing daughter, Reptile Memoirs is a brilliant exploration of the cold-bloodedness of humanity that asks if we can ever mend our broken lives.

“The serpentine plot of this astonishing debut gradually tightens its grip and leaves you gasping.”—Times (UK)

 

The White City by Karolina Ramqvist, translated from Swedish by Saskia Vogel

From the winner of the prestigious Per Olov Enquist Literary Prize comes a pulse-pounding story of betrayal and empowerment. When Karin’s high-flying criminal boyfriend disappears, she is left alone to pick up the pieces of her imploded life, taking drastic measures to gain a clean slate and reclaim what is rightfully hers.

“A story of high tension, startling insights, and lasting resonance.” —Siri Hustvedt, author of The Blazing World

Coming soon . . .

The Notebook Trilogy by Ágota Kristóf, translated from French by Alan Sheridan

With a new introduction by Ocean Vuong, a fiercely unsettling tale of twin brothers navigating a fractured twentieth century Europe. The Notebook Trilogy consists of three acclaimed novels that chart the course of the brother’s lives from the Second World War through the years of communism—an internationally renowned and masterful contribution to new-wave European fiction.

“A haunting, harrowing tale that lingers in the imagination long after you’ve turned the last page.”—Washington Post Book World