Translated Books Written by Women

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog! 

August is Women in Translation Month, so I thought I would dedicate a blog post to some of my favorite translated books written by women! Now, I've done a lot of blog posts featuring translated books in the past, so you might see some overlap here if you've been following me for a while. Also, the majority of the books are probably going to be from East Asia, because that's a concentration of mine, but I'll to try to include books from other nationalities as well. Just don't be surprised when there are multiple books translated from Japanese on this list. 

I will also include some books that I haven't yet read on this list, but am hoping to read soon! I think its important to highlight the fact that I haven't read enough translated work, but I'm hoping this TBR will help me with that.

I also want to say that I have a shelf on Goodreads dedicated to translated books, though of course there is a mix of author identity in there. But if you want even more recommendations, check the shelf out here.

Okay, without any further ado, let's get into the books!

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Read Books

Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadano
Translated from Japanese by Emily Balistrieri

I know I just talked about this month a couple of weeks ago, but I have to mention it again! I'm sure you recognize this as the Studio Ghibli film, but did you know that movie was based on a book? Kiki is a young witch in training who leaves her home for the first time and goes off to find a town in need of a witch to complete her training. She ends up in a quaint seaside city and offers her services as a delivery woman. With a charming setting and an eclectic cast of characters, Kiki's Delivery Service is surely a story you'll never forget!

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Translated from German by Anthea Bell

Talk about a childhood classic! When I first read the Inkheart trilogy as a kid, I had no idea that this was translated from German. I actually read a lot of Cornelia Funke's books, but Inkheart is the one that's stuck with me throughout my life. I still have my original copies of the trilogy, which first belonged to my older sibling. I'm due for a reread, too. Inkheart follows a young girl, Meggie, and her father Mo as they are pursued by an unknown enemy, hoping to exploit Mo's ability to talk characters out of books. It's whimsical and dark, and a perfect book for those who love Middle-Grade!

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
Translated from Japanese by Stephen Snyder

If I had to really give a definitive answer to the question, "What was your first translated book?" I would go with The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. It's certainly the book that got me interested in reading Japanese literature. I owe it all to you, Ogawa-san! The Memory Police is a surreal magical realism following a small island off the coast of Japan, where its citizens are slowly forgetting things. I don't mean gaps in memory, I mean they are literally forgetting the things around them. One day, it's hair ribbons; the next, perfume. This exodus of memory is monitored by a body called the Memory Police, who ensure that everything is being forgotten by everyone. I thought this book was masterfully crafted and had a twist unlike any other, alongside Japan's special way of magical realism.

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Sappho
Translated from Greek by Anne Carson

I bet you don't think of ancient texts as being translated, but they totally are! Unfortunately, there just aren't a lot of ancient texts written by women. The one exception for Ancient Greece would be the poet Sappho from the island of Lesbos. She wrote nine full books of lyric poetry, but time and censorship have made it so there are only fragments today; some even as small as one word. Anne Carson has taken what is left of Sappho's work and compiled it into a beautiful collection, complete with the original text for comparison. Whether you're a student of history or just someone who appreciates poetry, I highly recommend this book.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
Translated from Korean by Jamie Chang

I think this was my first foray into Korean literature, but it certainly won't be my last! What is unique about this book is that it is a commentary on the misogynism of Korea, complete with sources cited and articles to further educate you. It's actually banned in Korea for this reason, but it launched the feminist movement there. The book follows Kim Jiyoung (which is the most common name for women in Korea) as she slowly loses her sense of self and becomes the women around her. We learn her life story through sessions with a psychiatrist, who is trying to figure out the cause of this psychosis. This book is brilliant and hard-hitting, and will certainly punch the breath from your lungs at least once, and leave you feeling angry.

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Translated from French by Anjali Singh

This is a nonfiction graphic novel, following Marjane Satrapi's life as she grew up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution, her high school years in Vienna, her homecoming, and later her self-imposed exile from her homeland. As this is a graphic novel, I will say some of the scenes depicted can be triggering for some readers, trigger warnings for: death and murder, suicide attempts, self-harm, drug addiction, racism, police brutality, and others. I recommend looking up the full list of potential triggers before picking this up. However, I don't want this to deter you from reading Persepolis, because it is a beautiful and heartbreaking story, and one I think everyone should read. I, personally, never learned about the Islamic Revolution growing up, so this was brand new information to me, something that I think needs to be rectified for future generations. This is a book I think should be required reading in high school.

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina
Translated from Italian by Lucy Rand

This was one of my favorite books of 2021! While this was originally written in Italian, it actually takes place in Japan, based on a real place. In the countryside of Japan, there is an old phone booth with a disconnected "wind" phone that has become a place of pilgrimage after the tsunami that devasted the country back in 2011. People from all over flock to the phone booth, using it as a means to talk to their deceased loved ones, as their voices are carried away with the wind. Our narrator Yui lost both her mother and her daughter in the tsunami, and we follow her as she makes her own pilgrimage to the phone booth and meets a variety of people there. It's both heartbreaking and heartwarming, and if you want a book that will make you cry but also leave you filled with hope, then this is the book for you.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takamori

My first (and in my opinion, the best) book by Sayaka Murata, and while I sadly have decided to stop reading her books, I still think this one is worth the read. This is a contemporary novel following Keiko, who has always been a bit strange in the eyes of her family and peers. She got a job in college at a convenience store, but 18 years later she's still at the same job, having never had a boyfriend, and only a few friends. Everyone in her life is concerned that she'll never make something of her life, but she is perfectly contented with working at her beloved convenience store. This book tackles conformity and the grueling pressure of the female mind, and it does it wonderfully.  

The White Book by Han Kang
Translated from Korean by Deborah Smith

A poetry book centered entirely on the color white, Han Kang explores grief and loss through a fictional story of an older sister who died mere hours old. Each poem is based off of another white thing, from sugar cubes, to breast milk, to the snow in Warsaw. While the narrator grapples with this familial tragedy, Han Kang's lyrical poetry inspires the reader to look inward at their own grief, and work through it the same time as the narrator. It's brilliant and devastating, but you reach the end feeling cleansed through, like the empty white of the page before you.

TBR

Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories by Mariana Enriquez
Translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell

This is a short story collection perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson. Mariana Enriquez brings gothic horror to Argentina, managing to make grotesque subject matter seem graceful. I haven't read anything by Mariana Enriquez yet, but this is going to be my first!

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
Translated from Japanese by Allison Markin Powell

Hiromi Kawakami again utilizes that brand of magical realism that Japanese literature is so famous for. In Strange Weather in Tokyo, we follow two characters as they reconnect after parting ways in high school and begin to meet regularly, eating food and going on trips. This seems to be a contemporary rather than magical realism, but I'm sure that doesn't detract from the magic of Hiromi Kawakami's writing.

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Translated from Spanish by Sarah Moses

This is another Argentinian horror book, with some serious nods to Animal Farm and the like. This book takes place in a world where animals have all been infected and are inedible, so in order to keep meat on the shelves, the populace has resorted to sanctioned cannibalism. We follow Marcos, a man down on his luck who works in the local meat processing plant - that is, chopping up humans. He thinks nothing of it, until one day he's presented with a live human meant for the chopping block. I've seen a ton of people react to this book, and all I can say is that I'm glad I'm already a vegetarian. I'm actually very excited to read this!

The Iliac Crest by Christina Rivera Garza
Translated from Spanish by Sarah Booker

I got this recommendation straight from Emma on YouTube. She reads a ton of translated fiction, and this was one of her favorite books of last year. This is another gothic horror novel, following an unnamed narrator as one night two women break into his house and demand that he admit the unthinkable: that he is, in fact, a woman. This is meant to be a subversion of literary tropes that involve the male-female binary, and the destabilization of such binaries. I have a feeling this will be the hardest book to read on this list (content wise) but that won't stop me! 

Odin's Child by Siri Petterson
Translated from Norwegian by Sian Mackie

This was only recently translated into English, just last year! This is the first book in an epic historical fantasy series, following a young girl named Hirka who doesn't fit in her magical world. Everyone has a tail, and she does not. Everyone can harness a mysterious power called Might, and she can not. It seems she's just meant to be alone, until its revealed that she isn't from her world after all, but came through a portal as a baby. For fifteen years that portal has been ripped open, and until Hirka goes through it again, monsters continue to use it to reek havoc on her adopted world. It seems epic and magical, and I hope I can get my hands on a copy soon!

Kallocain by Karin Boye
Translated from Swedish by David McDuff

I think this is my only classic on this list, it first being published in 1940. This is one of the first true dystopian novels, written between Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four at the beginning of World War II. This book is centered around a drug that would make the user tell the truth no matter what, and the consequences of such a drug being produced. Political dystopian, of course, paved the way for books like The Hunger Games, and this has a surprisingly high rating for a classic, so consider me interested.

Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah
Translated from Korean by Deborah Smith

I love books that take place over a limited period of time, and that's exactly what Untold Night and Day does: set over a single day and night during the peak of summer in Seoul, Korea. It follows a young woman as she entertains the company of three separate men during this 24 hour period, with the sweltering heat bearing down on her more and more throughout the day. It seems provocative and daring, and is often described as an impossible fever dream. Sign me up!

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
Translated from Japanese by Philip Gabriel

This book was everywhere on BookTube a few months ago, and I can understand why. Reminding me of both Coraline and Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series, we follow a handful of isolated children who, one by one, fall into their mirrors to discover a beautiful castle in an otherworld. This castle offers the lonely children refuge during their school hours, but if they don't leave the world by 5 pm, they'll be eaten by the keeper of the castle. It seems like it'll be a lesson in reaching out to others and not allowing depression and loneliness to consume you, and I'm very excited to read it.

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
Translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes

This is a horror crime novel that really explores the dark side of humanity, filled with unreliable narrators and sharp mythology seeped deep in brutal reality. When a witch is found dead in the canals by a group of children, the entire community launches an investigation to discover the murderer's identity. It seems dark and twisted, but Melchor manages to bring to light that last shred of decency in an otherwise damned village. I know I've said this a bunch already, but I'm super excited to read this. 

Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga
Translated from French by Melanie L. Mauthner 

Lastly, and coincidentally the book on this list that I've had on my TBR the longest, is Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga. Though written in French, the author was actually born in Rwanda. However war and violence repeatedly plagued her homeland and therefore she was displaced several times in her childhood, before finally settling in France some 30 years later. Our Lady of the Nile takes place fifteen years before the Rwandan genocide (1994) at a convent/school, where young ladies across the country are sent to be raised in the shadow of the colonial white nuns that run the convent. With the backdrop of a country falling to pieces, we follow a mirrored effect happening inside the convent between the young women that live and study there. It seems poignant and devastating and exactly the kind of novel I gravitate toward.

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Alright, that's all the books I have for you today! I hope I managed to convince you to pick up at least one of these books. And I'm looking forward to reading all the ones on my TBR! Which one should I pick up first?

Tell me, what is your favorite translated book written by a woman? Let me know in the comments, or tweet at me @AllyEmReads.

Until next time!