Review: ‘The Silver Road’ by Stina Jackson

‘Silvervägen’ is a Swedish novel by Stina Jackson which is translated into English by Susan Beard and titled ‘The Silver Road’. The translation is excellent and I wasn’t aware that it was one until after I finished reading it!

The silver road is where Lelle dropped his daughter—Lina, three years ago. Lina was supposed to board the bus, but she never did. And no one found her or heard from her after that. Lelle spends the nights driving down the silver road, investigating the people and properties around it, and bugging the police.

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Review: ‘City of Jackals’ by Parker Bilal

‘City of Jackals’ is the fifth book (a standalone read) in the Makana Investigation series by Parker Bilal (pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub). The year is 2005. Large number of Sudanese are protesting in the middle of Cairo, Egypt, demanding a permanent refugee status. The government, elected with a suspicious 88% of the votes, has the riot police on stand-by with no interest in talking with the protestors. The rest of Cairo is divided between sympathizing with and antagonizing them. But both the groups are certain about one thing: it’s going to get very ugly, very soon.

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Review: ‘When I Hid My Caste’ by Jerry Pinto

This book of 135 pages captures 10 unapologetic and uncensored short stories of the marginalized in Indian society. Marginalized based on their caste, their gender, or their appearance. Originally published as ‘Jevha Mi Jaat Chorli Hoti’, the debut collection of short stories by Baburao Bagul has been given a new life and made more accessible by Jerry Pinto, who translated it in English under the title ‘When I Hid My Caste’. Apart from the addition of interesting and informative footnotes, it rarely feels like a translated work. When the original stories were published in 1963, they were claimed to revolutionize not just Dalit literature but Marathi and Indian literature too, and I can see why.

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