We were beside ourselves. My head reeled, as if I’d had too much to drink. I took the novels out of the suitcase one by one, opened them, studied the portraits of the authors, and passed them on to Luo. Brushing them with the tips of my fingers made me feel as if my pale hands were in touch with human lives.
- an extract from "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" by Dai Sijie (China, born 1954)
The Soviet biologist Irina Granina has experienced the worst of Communism, struggling to free her husband from the gulag for years. Following the r...
John Hunt and his Uncle Gus live in the beautiful high desert of Wyoming. An African American horse trainer is a curiosity, but at least he's a fam...
Alice Munro portrays the entrapment of everyday lives and their missed opportunities in this collection. At its centre are three stories connected ...
Nicola's Coup de Cœur Summer 2010 In true McInerney style, this collection of stories examines post 9/11 Am...
This is the second book that Nicola’s Book Club will read in Season 12, the theme of which is “Book to Film Adaptations”.
One of the acknowledged masterpieces of Mexican literature, Fernando del Paso's “News from the Empire” is a powerful and encyclopedic n...
News from the Empire
by Fernando del Paso (Mexico)
