June 2, 2020 The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos Translated by Sam Taylor Reviewed by Harriet Back in 1977, Marilyn French’s The Women’s Room was published. On the cover was the bold (and…
April 16, 2020 A Long Way Off by Pascal Garnier Translated by Emily Boyce Reviewed by Annabel For the past eight years, Gallic Books have been translating and publishing the gloriously black-humored noir novellas…
March 12, 2020 Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin Translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins Review by David Hebblethwaite Winter in Sokcho is a first in several senses: the debut novel by French-Korean writer…
December 3, 2019 The Last Two Maigrets by Georges Simenon Maigret and the Informer, translated by William HobsonMaigret and Monsieur Charles, translated by Ros Schwarz Review by Basil Ransome-Davies Simenon was a supercharged writing…
August 22, 2019 The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun by Sébastien Japrisot Translated by Helen Weaver Review by Annabel I had never heard of Sébastien Japrisot before reading this book, and afterwards, I wasn’t surprised to…
July 2, 2019 Selfies by Sylvie Weil Translated by Ros Schwartz Review by Karen Langley The selfie might seem to be a very modern phenomenon; the sight of people constantly stretching…
June 27, 2019 The Cracks in our Armour by Anna Gavalda Translated by Alison Anderson Reviewed by Harriet Way back in the early days of Shiny (issue 5 to be exact) I reviewed Anna Gavalda’s…
May 2, 2019 The Office of Gardens and Ponds by Didier Decoin Translated by Euan Cameron Reviewed by Harriet In this magical novel, we are in Japan, many many years ago. The small, unremarkable village of…
April 16, 2019 Adèle by Leïla Slimani Translated by Sam Taylor Review by Annabel Slimani’s first novel to be translated into English, Lullaby, took the English-speaking publishing world by storm. It…
February 5, 2019 No Place to Lay One’s Head by Francoise Frenkel Translated by Stephanie Smee Reviewed by Harriet When I was first offered this book for review, I turned it down, for reasons that are…
October 25, 2018 The Lady and the Little Fox Fur by Violette Leduc Translated by Derek Coltman Review by Karen Langley There’s been a buzz recently about Penguin’s (re?) launch of their European Writers series, with the…
August 14, 2018 The Bright Side of Life by Emile Zola Translated by Andrew Rothwell Reviewed by Harriet Fans of Monty Python may have a bit of trouble with this title – I’ve had their…
July 24, 2018 Vernon Subutex 2 by Virginie Despentes Translated by Frank Wynne Review by Basil Ransome-Davies Almost two decades ago I saw a French movie called Baise-moi. It contained, besides much simulated…
July 17, 2018 Disoriental by Négar Djavadi Translated by Tina A Kover Review by Marina Sofia With a blurb promising a story of growing up in exile and even the title…
July 12, 2018 Retribution Road by Antonin Varenne Translated by Sam Taylor Review by Gill Davies Having become rather jaded with the predictability of the crime fiction genre and wearied by the…
February 20, 2018 Savages: The Wedding by Sabri Louatah Translated by Gavin Bowd Reviewed by Annabel This debut novel is the first volume of Louatah’s planned Saint-Étienne quartet named after the French city…
January 23, 2018 Lullaby by Leïla Slimani Translated by Sam Taylor Reviewed by Harriet Moroccan born novelist Leïla Slimani is not the first woman to win France’s most prestigious literary prize,…
November 16, 2017 Shadows and Sun by Dominique Sylvain Translated by Neil Caistor Reviewed by Terence Jagger I enjoyed this book, set amongst the French police in Paris and in Abidjan, but that’s…
November 14, 2017 A Love Story by Émile Zola Translated by Helen Constantine Reviewed by Harriet Here on Shiny we’ve reviewed several of the new Oxford World Classics editions of the novels of…
July 13, 2017 The Portrait by Antoine Laurain Translated by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce Review by Annabel French author Antoine Laurain has already got himself an army of fans (or should…
June 13, 2017 The Santiago Pilgrimage by Jean-Christophe Rufin Translated by Martina Devis & Malcolm Imrie Reviewed by Terence Jagger Monsieur Rufin is an impressive man, having founded Médecins sans Frontières, been an…
June 6, 2017 Maigret Goes to School by Georges Simenon Translated by Linda Coverdale Reviewed by Harriet What was he doing there? A hundred times, in the middle of an investigation, he’d had the…
June 6, 2017 Checkpoint by Jean-Christophe Rufin Translated by Alison Anderson Review by Terence Jagger The first character we meet is Maud, a young and naive Frenchwoman who is apparently badly…
February 7, 2017 The Gardens of Consolation by Parisa Reza Translated by Adriana Hunter Reviewed by Terence Jagger “To the east, bare earth as far as the eye can see. To the west, hills…
October 13, 2016 French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain Translated by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce Reviewed by Annabel I experienced the sheer joy of reading French author Antoine Laurain earlier this summer…
