The team at our Emporium shop is full of lovers of translated fiction. You can get great recommendations by visiting the shop and asking our lovely booksellers, but in the meantime here's a curated guide to some of the their favourite translated titles! With everything from heart-wrenching explorations of grief, to a cosy story about finding the perfect book at the library, to a classic crime series, there's something for every reader.

Baz recommends:

All Our Yesterdays by Natalia Ginzburg, translated by Angus Davidson

'Ginzburg is the greatest writer I've discovered in the last ten years. The propulsive narratives, the way Ginzburg gets to the heart of her characters, and the clear and deceptively simple but highly polished, distinctive prose style all work to create stories of great emotional depth and complexity. I've loved all her books.'

Tracy recommends:

I Went to See My Father by Kyung-Sook Shin, translated by Anton Hur

'This is one of the most moving novels I've read in a long time. Shin sensitively moves between the heartbreak of one man's trauma and parental sacrifice, and the broader scope of Korea's history, to tell a richly layered slow-burn epic, the likes of which I've not read since Pachinko. With a realism that feels both autobiographical and universal, Shin's novel yields a level of catharsis that can only be the product of meticulous consideration, research and love.'

Baz recommends:

The House on Via Gemito by Domenico Starnone, translated by Oonagh Stransky

'This is the latest novel of Starnone's to be (beautifully) published by Europa, and it's a safe choice for anyone looking to be stimulated both emotionally and intellectually – and also anyone just looking for something both super literary and entertaining. Starnone's a master.'

Molly recommends:

Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima, translated by Meredith Weatherby

'Mishima's prose runs so close to the narrator's psyche, becoming by turns uncomfortably macabre and then uncannily relatable in its expression of queerness. His work always has a way of haunting me for long after I have read it.'

Ruth recommends:

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette

'I was floored by the book – writing at its brutal, economical best. You won't be able to stop reading, heart in mouth, and when you finish it will stay long after you close the covers.'

Baz recommends:

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West

'One of the most exhilirating reading experiences I've had in a long time. It has glory and destruction, thrills and chills, humanity at its best and worst, dazzling leaps of the imaginations and descents into madness. Labatut's cleverness and panache blazes in this book. It's insanely good.'

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Megan recommends:

What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts

'This delightful book features 5 people who are feeling stuck and questioning their place in the world. Each finds themselves at the local library, getting recommendations from the mysterious librarian who has a particular talent for knowing what they need to read to give them the direction they are looking for. Insightful and cosy, read this if you like Before the Coffee Gets Cold.'

Baz recommends:

The Inspector Maigret series by Georges Simenon

'I'm addicted to these books. I can't get enough of Maigret's compassion for lost souls, criminals, lonely people living on the edge of society; and of Simenon's style, his elegant simplicity; and of the Paris he evokes so vividly. These books don't have to be read in order. Just pick one and start!'