A Separation by Katie Kitamura is presented as a mystery (woman goes to Greece to locate her husband, despite the fact that they had separated months before), but is actually a story focused on grief, absences, and our expectations around the longevity of love.

I picked up A Separation after reading Kitamura’s Intimacies, which I particularly enjoyed because the main character worked as a translator, and this provided an interesting perspective on the nuance and intention of words. I was pleased to discover that the main character in this book was also a translator –

Translation is not unlike an act of channeling, you write and you do not write the words. Continue reading →