Mrs. Hemingway

Naomi Wood

Naomi Wood, Mrs. Hemingway, © Picador, 2015.

Mrs Hemingway explores the lives of Hadley, Pauline, Martha and Mary, the four wives of Ernest Hemingway. Through the perspectives of these women, the novel delves into the complicated, passionate, and at times tumultuous relationships Hemingway had with each of them. From the bohemian Paris of the 1920s to the battlefields of World War II, passing through the glamour of Hollywood and the solitude of the Cuban countryside, Naomi Woods offers a vivid portrayal of the women who shared and shaped the writer’s life.

Breasts and Eggs

Mieko Kawakami

Mieko Kawakami, Breasts and Eggs, Translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd, © Picador, 2021.

Avec l’aimable autorisation d’ACTES SUD : Seins et œufs de Mieko Kawakami traduit du japonais par Patrick Honnoré © ACTES SUD, 2012 (coll. « Babel », 2014)

Set in modern-day Japan, Breasts and Eggs is narrated by Natsuko, a struggling writer trying to come to terms with her own infertility. She is visited by her sister Makiko and her niece Midoriko, each of them coping with their own struggles. The novel is a moving exploration of womanhood, family, and the pressures placed on women to conform to society's expectations. With its honest portrayal of the complexities of female relationships, Mieko Kawakami delivers a powerful and poignant work of fiction.

Bliss, and Other Stories

Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield, Bliss, © Penguin Classics, 2023.

Bliss is a collection of short stories first published in 1918 by Katherine Mansfield. She is considered today one of the most important and innovative modernist writers of the early 20th century. In this collection, she explores the themes of desire, disillusionment and human isolation. With its rich language, psychological depth and nuanced depictions of life, Bliss is an enduring and pioneering work of fiction.

The Women I Think About at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes

Mia Kankimäki

Mia Kankimäki, The Women I Think About at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes, Naiset joita ajattelen öisin, Translated by Douglas Robinson, © Simon & Schuster, 2020. The English-language edition published by agreement with Mia Kankimäki and Elina Ahlback Literary Agency, Helsinki, Finland.

Mia Kankimäki: Naiset joita ajattelen öisin. © Mia Kankimäki & Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava 2018.

Mia, the narrator in The Women I Think About at Night, is a childless woman in her forties. Feeling stuck in her life, she quits everything and embarks on a journey to explore the lives of pioneering women who inspire her. From the Kenyan bush described in Karen Blixen’s fiction to Yayoi Kusama’s Japan, she ends up in Italy tracking down Renaissance female painters long forgotten by history. Mia Kankimäki offers an entertaining, thought-provoking and feel-good story. One that defies literary genre oscillating between memoir, travelog and women history.