Gwyl’s Recommendations: 2020

The five books we enjoyed most this year.

Cartucho and My Mother’s Hands

by Nellie Campobello, trans. by Doris Meyer and Irene Matthews and pub. by University of Texas Press in 1988.

A series of vignettes, largely from a child’s perspective, based on Campobello’s experiences during the Mexican revolution. Notable for being the only first hand female account of the Mexican revolution we have, it focuses on moments within, rather than the logistics of, war. I loved this beyond all imagining.

Minor Detail

by Adania Shibli, trans. by Lizzie Jaquette, pub. by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2020.

Split in half and across time, Shibli’s story is about the continuation of crimes against the Palestinian people. My favourite writing style is sparse and simple, the first half of this book delivers in scarcity. It is a finely crafted object, not a word out of place.

When Things of the Spirit Come First

by Simone de Beauvoir, trans. by Patrick O’Brian and pub. by Fontana Paperbacks in 1983.

De Beauvoir follows five women in short stories that interlink in the best way: incidentally. This was one of several books I read this year that felt profoundly truthful. This is my Mum’s copy who I was very surprised to learn had had an extensive de Beauvoir stage. In misjudging her, happily I gained an heirloom.

The Sea Needs No Ornament

edited and trans. by Loretta Collins Klobah and Maria Grau Perejoan, and pub. by Peepal Tree Press in 2020

Anthologies have a place but rarely are they good. This anthology of contemporary Caribbean women poets is a book we have both found worthy of a long-term place on our bedside tables.

For Future

by Hundertwasser, trans. by John Wheelwright and pub. by Hatje Cantz in 2020

A miniature German language gem of green architecture and ecosocialism. Hundertwasser is an example of how it was always clear that we were poisoning our planet, his drawings of houses and motorways remain radical.

Happy New Year!
with love,
Caitlin & Will