JOIN / SIGN IN

Welcome to Foyalty

Earn a Foyalty Stamp for every £10 you spend in our shops or online*

Every 10 Foyalty Stamps you earn adds £10 to your Foyalty Balance

Spend your Foyalty Balance in our shops or online, with no minimum redemption*

*Exclusions apply, see full T&Cs for details.

2024's Best Translated Fiction: The top 10 best novels to look forward to from July to December

The first half of 2024 treated us to some amazing works of translated fiction, the second half looks equally enticing. With books written by literary giants such as Haruki Murakami, Olga Tokarczuk and Eva Baltasar, new works by an International Booker winner and two shortlisted authors, and a collection by celebrated film director Pedro Almodóvar, our selection spans over countries and time, and takes us—quite literally—to other worlds.

Comrade Papa by GauZ'

Translated by Frank Wynne

Pub. 04/07/2024

Many readers will rejoice at news of a second novel by GauZ' finding its way into English, given the quality of his International Booker Prize shortlisted first; Standing Heavy. Once again brilliantly translated by Frank Wynne—the first of three novels on this list(!)—Comrade Papa is an African epic, spanning continents and centuries in its search for insight into the colonial past of the author's native Cote d'Ivoire.

The Black Orb by Ewhan Kim

Translated by Sean Lin Halbert

Pub. 01/08/2024

The first book by Ewhan Kim to be translated into English, The Black Orb certainly demands attention with its surreal premise—as we follow Jeong-su in his attempts to outrun a black orb that is consuming everyone in its path. With absurdist humour and thrilling, twisty plotline, The Black Orb is as absorbing and all consuming an experience as… well, as a giant black orb that absorbs everyone around it.

Mammoth by Eva Baltasar

Translated by Julia Sanches

Pub. 06/08/2024

After Permafrost and Boulder, International Booker shortlisted author Eva Baltasar returns with another razor sharp and iconic novel about queerness and motherhood. This time our protagonist is a young disenchanted woman who finds it entertaining to seduce and sleep with random men and who dabbles in sex work. With her unique style, Eva Baltasar has created a perfect portrait of social despair and unruliness.

Silken Gazelles by Jokha Alharthi

Translated by Marilyn Booth

Pub. 15/08/2024

Raised as sisters, Ghazaala is devastated when her friend Asiya is forced to leave their small, mountainside village following tragic circumstances. It’s a separation that haunts her into adulthood, and she never gives up on finding a love that might replace the bond they shared. From the first Arabic-language winner of the Man Booker International Prize—an unforgettable story of friendship, love, and the impact of childhood.

If Only by Vigdis Hjorth

Translated by Charlotte Barslund

Pub. 03/09/2024

Many authors have written about love and desire, but few lingered on the destructive downside of it as masterfully as Vigdis Hjorth. When Ida and Arnold start their love affair it is clear that they live it in a very different way. When Ida starts idealising and obsessing over it, she almost doesn’t realise that her life is falling apart around her. If Only is an exquisite novel on passion, love and the mistakes they can lead to.

The Last Dream by Pedro Almodóvar

Translated by Frank Wynne

Pub. 26/09/2024

Written between the late 60s and the present day, this inventive story collection is an incredible journey into the creative mind of film director Pedro Almodóvar. Spanning from auto-fiction, to gothic, to comedy and more, these twelve stories explore Almodóvar’s life and dive into the typical themes of his cinematic works. The Last Dream is a celebration of how life and creativity can come together to create Art.

Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes

Translated by Frank Wynne

Pub. 12/09/2024

After the provocative Vernon Subtext Trilogy and the refreshing King Kong Theory, Virginie Despentes latest novel follows the feud over an Instagram comment of a middle-aged man over a famous actress’ look. In an endless stream of back-and-forth anger emails between the two, their mutual antipathy grows and evolves in an unexpected, twisted way. With a style fuelled by rage and filled with obscenities, Dear Dickhead is an essential reflection on gender privileges, age and vulnerability.

Annihilation by Michel Houellebecq

Translated by Shaun Whiteside

Pub. 19/09/2024

The enfant terrible of French literature is back. Annihilation however is not your usual Houellebecq fayre. Far from the existential despair and controversialist tropes with which he made his name, Annihilation is at times tender, compassionate, and places love—yes, love—at the very centre of the story. The furious moralising and defeatist state-of-the-nation anger are still present of course, it just matters far less when love conquers all!

The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story by Olga Tokarczuk

Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Pub. 26/09/2024

Recalling some of the greatest names of 20th century European literature, Thomas Mann―whose Magic Mountain is a direct influence on the plot―but also Stefan Zweig, Joseph Roth, Herman Hesse etc, The Empusium subverts their works into an hallucinatory, atmospheric work of feminist revision. Tokarczuk is a master of subtle menace and the power of what is not said―the ‘horror’ of the subtitle is more a feeling than anything physical―making this a novel that is as playful as it is disturbing.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

Translated by Philip Gabriel

Pub. 19/11/2024

From the author of the global literary sensation Norwegian Wood, comes a brilliant story of boundaries between worlds and the power of books. Following the protagonist as he moves between the real world and the shadow one, we end up losing ourselves between reality and dreams, and the only salvation is between the pages of books. Dreamlike and thrilling, The City and Its Uncertain Walls is an incredible novel about limits, both real and imaginary.