what I'm reading for Women in Translation month - horror edition
plus some recent recommendations
Look, the longer I write this newsletter, the more I realize that I am just simply not a summer type of gal anymore1. While I love thinking about all the sweet, soft novels I might read during the summer months, what I actually pick up tends to be more The Cure and less The Beatles. August is Women in Translation month, so I found a few titles to help us forget that August is the Sunday of the year by reminding you that the horrors persist2.
This is the stack I will be picking from this month3. It seems I have a penchant for Latin American horror writers, perhaps because they swing literary/political rather than traditional horror. I also have some Japanese and Swedish authors on my longer list, but if anyone has any broader suggestions, I would love to hear them! All books plus a few more recs can be found in my Bookshop: Women in Translation.
What I’m reading
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell (Argentina)
After reading Fever Dream (review below) in May, Schweblin became an instant favorite. Little Eyes is about mechanical toys gone wild, infiltrating homes across the globe and wreaking havoc. This review hooked me:
“The Argentine literary sensation—whose work is weird, wondrous, and wise—leads a vanguard of Latin American writers forging their own 21st-century canon.... Samanta Schweblin has perfected the art of pithy literary creepiness, crafting modern fables that tingle the spine and the brain. Her latest book, Little Eyes, distills her uncanny ability to unnerve. Think of it as Black Mirror by way of Shirley Jackson.” –O, the Oprah magazine
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes (Mexico)
Called a “brutally harrowing tale of poverty, paranoia, and murder (also: witches),” this was all I needed to hear to hit add to cart. It didn’t hurt that Hurricane was longlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize and is timely in its themes of poverty, violence, and women’s rights. I want to be swept up in Melchor’s hurricane of a novel.
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell (Argentina)
Another repeat offender, Our Share of Night (review below), was a top read of 2023 and so clearly I now need to read Enriquez’s entire catalog. Sunny Place is a short-story collection which I have only recently come to respect, so I am looking forward to seeing what she can do with a word count constraint.
Non-Horror Bonus: The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernandez, translated by Natasha Wimmer (Chile)
While this title is not horror, it is on the darker side, delving into the world of Chilean dictatorships, journalistic dissension, and crimes in plain sight. How can a people can fight back against the “brutal yet commonplace machinations of [a] regime”? In a time when people in power threaten to erase any history that doesn’t fit their narrative, stories of resistance and truth-telling feel even more pressing.
Recent recommendations
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell (Argentina)
When I say literary horror, this is what I mean - deeply personal, political, smart, haunting, and filled with melancholy. Told as a conversation between a woman dying in hospital and a young boy, we float inside the story, drifting through vignettes as Amanda sorts her memory, pierced by eerie occurrences and urgent tragedy. The narrative is fragmented, feverish, and haunting, and I loved every second of it.
Woodworm by Layla Martinez, translated by Sophie Hughes (Spain)
Woodworm is everything I want from a spooky read - a haunted house, a weird narrator, generational trauma, revenge, sex, death, and poetic justice. I found this to be a very powerful example of a novella that says so much with so little. The two unnamed narrators are unreliable, fickle, and desperate to escape the generations of ghosts living within their ancestral home. This was a favorite of 2024 and the best spooky read of the season.
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell (Argentina)
I have long been fascinated with death, eternal life, the universal spirit, and the depths of human depravity. Our Share of Night is stunning in its ability to capture all facets of human existence - goodness, friendship, darkness, power, love, and evil. It’s about a father who will do anything in his power to keep his son from a supernatural cult, caught between family legacy and the fraught political landscape of a crumbling dictatorship. While the longest of the bunch, if you enjoy a family saga, this one is a highly recommend.
Jawbone by Monica Ojeda, translated by Sarah Booker (Ecuador)
While I love horror, I struggle with the body horror subgenre. Jawbone was wonderful but deeply uncomfortable. It’s about a group of teenage friends who dare each other to complete increasingly terrifying rituals in a standoff against their new teacher, a woman consumed by becoming her own dead mother. Thematically, Jawbone is dense and creates tension from perhaps the most horrific thing of all - absence. You’ve been warned.
Some other great resources for Women in Translation month
Horror books for Women in Translation Month (Books in the Freezer)
22 Horror Books to Read for Women in Translation Month (Read by Dusk)
What are you reading for Women in Translation Month? If you’ve read any, which would you recommend first?
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See you around the bookshelf!
because all children love summer, and teenage/young adult me did because I got to wear the least amount of clothes 😵💫🙄
You may be seeing some of these titles again as I vet novels for my horror for snobs list, so act like you are surprised
A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE: STORIES is my favorite of all of Enriquez's work I have read so far (OUR SHARE OF NIGHT is still on my tbr). Loved it.
LITTLE EYES is so good, big fan of Schweblin, have read everything she's published so far. MOUTHFUL OF MY BIRDS is my (*so far*) all-time fave, loved every story.
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HURRICANE SEASON is also on my tbr, waiting on my hold to come in from the library.
I read WOODWORM at the end of June on your recommendation and loved it.
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Not sure what I'm starting with for WIT month, but have several on deck:
- I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman
- THE DELIVERY by Margarita García Robayo
- THE BRITTLE AGE by Donatella Di Pietrantonio
- DEATH TAKES ME by Cristina Rivera Garza
Feel like this newsletter was written specifically for me. Little Eyes is one of my all time faves and i LOVED Fever Dream. Our share of night was sooooo exceptional and creative and spooky. I found Hurricane Season to be exceedingly uncomfortable— will be looking forward to your review!
As for what i haven’t read, Jawbone has been on the list for a while but i’ve heard mixed reviews. Unfortunately i think I’m going to have to read it!!!!! Weirdly love to traumatize myself with body horror reads (why? why????). Also need to read woodworm!!
To return the favor of excellent horror recs: Cipher by Kathe Koja. Simply a must.