A Polar Paradox by Cynthia Reeves – NORWAY
Ten Novels with Translators / Interpreters at their Heart
10th March 2024
Ten novels with Translators / Interpreters at their Heart. Translators and interpreters are vital to communication.
Translators are the written word wizards, meticulously crafting translations that capture the essence of a text or a book in another language.
Interpreters, on the other hand, work in real-time. They think fast, translating spoken word simultaneously or consecutively, ensuring smooth communication in meetings or conferences.
Many books in the TripFiction database feature either translators or interpreters as their protagonists. Here are ten of our favourites covering many genres..
The Extinction of Irena Ray by Jennifer Croft – POLAND
From the International Booker Prize–winning translator and Women’s Prize finalist, a propulsive, beguiling novel about eight translators and their search for a world-renowned author who goes missing.
Eight translators arrive at a house in a primeval Polish forest on the border of Belarus. It belongs to the writer Irena Rey, and they are there to translate her magnum opus, Grey Eminence. But within days of their arrival, Irena disappears without a trace.
The translators, who hail from eight different countries but share the same reverence for their beloved author, begin to investigate where she may have gone while proceeding with work on her masterpiece. They explore this ancient, wooded refuge with its intoxicating slime moulds and lichens and study her exotic belongings and layered texts for clues. But doing so reveals secrets ― and deceptions ― of Irena Rey’s that they are utterly unprepared for. Forced to face their differences as they grow increasingly paranoid in this fever dream of isolation and obsession, soon the translators are tangled up in a web of rivalries and desire, threatening not only their work but the fate of their beloved author herself.
This hilarious, thought-provoking second outing by award-winning translator and author Jennifer Croft is a brilliant examination of art, celebrity, the natural world, and the power of language. It is an unforgettable, unputdownable adventure with a small but global cast of characters shaken by the shocks of love, destruction, and creation in one of Europe’s last great wildernesses.
The Translator by Nina Schuyler – JAPAN
When renowned translator Hanne Schubert falls down a flight of stairs, she suffers a brain injury and ends up with an unusual but real condition: the ability to only speak the language she learned later in life: Japanese.
Isolated from the English-speaking world, Hanne flees to Japan, where a Japanese novelist whose work she has recently translated accuses her of mangling his work. Distraught, she meets a new inspiration for her work: a Japanese Noh actor named Moto.
Through their contentious interactions, Moto slowly finds his way back onto the stage while Hanne begins to understand how she mistranslated not only the novel but also her daughter, who has not spoken to Hanne in six years. Armed with new knowledge and languages both spoken and unspoken, she sets out to make amends.
The Kimono Tattoo by Rebecca Copeland – KYOTO
Fictional dangers become real to American translator, Ruth Bennett, in this high-octane multicultural thriller.
Recently returned to her childhood home in Kyoto, after losing her job in the United States-and her marriage-Ruth was hoping her new job would offer a quiet diversion, perhaps even boost her flagging confidence. But she soon finds the storyline in the mysterious novel she’s translating is leaking into her everyday life. Fictional characters turn out to be real, and the past catches up with the present in a menacing way. Using her skills as a translator and her intimate knowledge of both kimono and Kyoto, Ruth is forced to confront a vicious killer along with her own painful family secrets.
The Conspirators by G W Shaw – SLOVENIA / AUSTRIA
A private plane and helicopter take him to a showcase villa in Carinthia and all the luxury he could ever want. Here he meets the owner of the house Bondarenko. Unwillingly Jacob has become part of an organised crime conspiracy, held captive there by armed guards.
His task is to interpret between Hindi, Russian and English during Zoom calls with Nazim, an Indian criminal whose gang have taken over the manufacture and distribution network of the wonder fertility drug that Bondarenko has been selling on the internet. It becomes clear to Jacob that his employer is in far deeper and more dangerously than he realises. The gang’s plan is to take over the entire operation by any means.
The villa has become a lethal gilded prison to Jacob and Vlada, the maid who’s a trafficked worker. When Nazim finally strikes which side will Jacob take to survive?
The Translator by Harriet Crawley – MOSCOW
A highly topical thriller about a Russian plot to cut the undersea communication cables linking the US to the UK. Also, a passionate love story between two people determined to stop this cataclysmic act.
Clive Franklin, a Russian language expert in the Foreign Office, is summoned unexpectedly to Moscow to act as translator for the British Prime Minister. His life is turned on its head when, after more than a decade, he discovers that his former lover, Marina Volina, is now the interpreter to the Russian President. At the embassy, Clive learns of a Russian plot to cut the undersea cables linking the US to the UK which would paralyse communications and collapse the Western economy. Marina stuns Clive with the news that she’s ready to help stop the attack, betraying her country for a new identity and a new life. Clive becomes the go-between, relaying Marina’s intelligence to MI6 back in London. What are the odds that two lovers, running the Moscow marathon with the FSB on their backs, can save Western Europe from economic meltdown?
The Missing Shade of Blue by Jennie Erdal – EDINBURGH
When translator Edgar Logan arrives from his home in Paris to work in Edinburgh he anticipates a period of enlightenment and calm. But when he is befriended by the philosopher Harry Sanderson and his captivating artist wife, Edgar’s meticulously circumscribed life is suddenly propelled into drama and crisis. Drawn into the Sandersons’ troubled marriage, Edgar must confront both his own deepest fears from the past and his present growing attraction to the elusive Carrie.
Moving, witty and wise, The Missing Shade of Blue is a compelling portrait of the modern condition, from the absence of faith to the scourge of sexual jealousy and the elusive nature of happiness.
The Russian Interpreter by Michael Frayn – MOSCOW
‘A love affair through an interpreter,’ said Raya. ‘That’s a very cultured prospect.’
Raya is a mercurial Moscow blonde who speaks no English, and the affair she is embarking upon is with Gordon Proctor-Gould, a visiting British businessman who speaks no Russian. They need an interpreter; which is how Paul Manning is diverted from writing his thesis at Moscow university to become involved in all the deceptions of love and East-West relations.
The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou – NORTH LONDON
London, 1954. Zina Pavlou, a Cypriot grandmother, waits quietly in the custody of the Metropolitan police. She can’t speak their language, but she understands what their wary looks mean: she has been accused of the brutal murder of her daughter-in-law.
Eva Georgiou, Greek interpreter for the Met, knows how it feels to be voiceless as an immigrant woman. While she works as Zina’s translator, her obsession with the case deepens, and so too does her bond with the accused murderer.
Zina can’t speak for herself. She can’t clear her own name. All she can do is wait for the world to decide…
IS SHE A VICTIM? OR IS SHE A KILLER?
The Interpreter by Brooke Robinson – LONDON
Only she knows what they’re saying; a misinterpreted word could decide their fate.
So when she believes a grave injustice is about to take a place, and a guilty man might be declared innocent, Revelle twists an alibi to change the verdict and send him to prison. No one can ever find out that she interfered or she will lose everything – even her son.
But someone knows what she’s done… And they want justice of their own.
Intimacies by Katie Kitamura – THE HAGUE
An interpreter has come to The Hague to escape New York and work at the International Court. A woman of many languages and identities, she is looking for a place to finally call home.
She’s drawn into simmering personal dramas: her lover, Adriaan, is separated from his wife but still entangled in his marriage. Her friend Jana witnesses a seemingly random act of violence, a crime the interpreter becomes increasingly obsessed with as she befriends the victim’s sister. And she’s pulled into an explosive political controversy when she’s asked to interpret for a former president accused of war crimes.
A woman of quiet passion, she confronts power, love, and violence, both in her personal intimacies and in her work at the Court. She is soon pushed to the precipice, where betrayal and heartbreak threaten to overwhelm her, forcing her to decide what she wants from her life.
Enjoy your books set around the lives of Translators and Interpreters!
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