Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey
If you are like me, these days you are a bit wary of yet another novel on the complexity of motherhood, but IGNORE THE IMPULSE TO SHY AWAY. Still Born is freaking fantastic. It is literary, heart-squeezing, smart, lovely, and real, all while being very much about two friends and their changing ideologies as children come into their lives and expand what it means to be a caretaker. Both are tested and empowered in Guadalupe Nettel’s excellent novel, which was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. —Melinda
