May global fiction: Six new novels about the strange times we live in
Scroll May 17, 2025 04:39 PM

All information sourced from publishers.

The Cursed Friend, Beatrice Salvioni, translated from the Italian by Elena Pala

It is 1936 in the small Italian city of Monza. On the pebbled bank of the Lambro, two frantic girls scramble to hide a body.

A year earlier, Maddalena attracts stares everywhere she goes. “The Cursed One”, they whisper, as tales of the harm she’s inflicted upon those who have crossed her ignite fear and scorn amongst the townspeople.

Francesca is not scared like the others. Respectable, well-behaved and yearning for a life beyond provincial conformity, she is drawn to Maddalena’s rebellious spirit. When, one day, she finds herself telling a lie to save her, this split-second decision irrevocably binds the girls together.

From this moment on, they will go to any length to protect one another, even if that leads to terrible violence…

When the Crane Fly South, Lisa Rizdén, translated from the Swedish by Alice Menzies

Bo lives a quiet existence in his small rural village in the north of Sweden. He is elderly and his days are punctuated by visits from his care team and his son.

Fortunately, he still has his rich memories, phone calls with his best friend Ture, and his beloved dog Sixten for company.

Only now his son is insisting that the dog must be...

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