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Just As It Was
Lucy Scholes
‘Unnatural is as fitting a term as any to describe the life Athill went on to lead, in that the choices she makes continually push against the conventions of her upbringing, class and gender. ’
Best Book of 1989: A House with Four Rooms
Esther Rutter
Esther Rutter on why A House with Four Rooms by Rumer Godden is the best book of 1989.
Best Book of 1993: To Live
Jianan Qian
Jianan Qian on why Yu Hua’s To Live is the best book of 1993.
On Europe | Peter Stamm
Peter Stamm
Peter Stamm on the Swiss referendum to join the EU. Translated from the German by Michael Hofmann.
Introduction
Sigrid Rausing
‘Somewhere in-between is the truth. Somewhere in-between is the story, or at least the European story.’
Orhan Pamuk | On Europe
Orhan Pamuk
‘In the part of the world where I come from, Europe is not just an ideal and a beautiful dream’ Translated from the Turkish by Ekin Oklap.
Jacqueline Rose | On Europe
Jacqueline Rose
‘We will get nowhere in understanding the present crisis unless we, as Europeans, are willing to look into the dark heart of ourselves.’
Exile
Elif Shafak
‘The first time I heard the word exile – sürgün – in Turkish, I was a child. It struck me how closely it rhymed with another word: hüzün – melancholy.’
On Tastelessness
Adam O’Fallon Price
‘Write through your first ending is advice I give, again and again.’
Jianan Qian | First Sentence
Jianan Qian
‘For every witness, history unfolded at some other time, and in some other place.’ Jianan Qian on the first sentence of her story, ‘To the Dogs’.