Radz Pandit

Anxiety I wake up at night and switch on the lamp, why I haven't a clue, there is the basin, there is the wall, and there is the blanket, still blue. But I am seized and swept across turbulent waters of dread, for something ice-cold and fated has crept inside my head. Come, the light is on and I'm awake, step out of the shadows you haunt and tell me, gruesome, almighty power, what is it exactly you want? Have you not any compassion? See, I'm too tired to fight this unsoothable fear that washes over me night after night. Are there seven seas of anxiety where every single drop is bound to drip its poison into my mind, until love and hope cannot be found? Are there oceans of anxiety where every single wave is destined to crash into me, bringing horrors I alone must brave?

"I am seized and swept across turbulent waters of dread..."

- "Anxiety" from THERE LIVES A YOUNG GIRL IN ME WHO WILL NOT DIE by Tove Ditlevsen.

LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR by Pirkko Saisio. Translated from the Finnish by Mia Spangenberg. Penguin International Writers series.

"And it's only now that she understands what a threat Martta's and Väinö's strange and silly love must have been to Aunt Sirkka, a woman who had twice been in love and twice been rejected - and to anyone who was afraid their inconsolable loneliness would be exposed."

Re-reading Amongst Women for work and had forgotten how terrifying Moran is. One of the sourest patriarchs in Irish literature. It’s uncomfortable reading; constantly feeling uneasy for the characters, a mark of how masterful McGahern is. Very glad that Ireland is long gone. @faberbooks.bsky.social

THE TROUBLE WITH HAPPINESS AND OTHER STORIES by Tove Ditlevsen. Translated from the Danish by Michael Favala Goldman. Penguin Classics.

"A hollow melancholy enveloped her with an unmerciful darkness she could not escape."

I loved Tove Ditlevsen's bleak but powerful THE TROUBLE WITH HAPPINESS; intense short stories that explore love, marriage, family, & mental illness.
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Here at the end of the world: The Sorrow of Angels by Jón Kalman Stefánsson The boy sticks his head all the way out and his black hair whitens, the ground lies everywhere beneath a thick layer of the sorrow of angels, no grazing either in pasture or on beach, all the lives…

Here at the end of the world: The Sorrow of Angels by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, translated by Philip Roughton @biblioasis.bsky.social
roughghosts.com/2025/11/23/h...

Bought this at Edinburgh Book Festival and then forgot to read it! Another masterful collection of stories - my only complaint about Schweblin is that I wish she would write more.

The Wax Child by Olga Ravn

Having written outstanding science fiction and autobiographical fiction, Olga Ravn turns her hand to historical fiction with the most wondrous narrative voice.

If you enjoyed The Summer Book, might I recommend

THE WAX CHILD by Olga Ravn. Translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken. Published by New Directions.

On my blog today, a new post on Olga Ravn's dark and haunting novella of witchcraft and witch hunts, THE WAX CHILD. Translated by Martin Aitken.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/t...

Three books on a bed: 1) The Wax Child by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken 2) Money to Burn by Asta Olivia Nordenhof, translated by Caroline Waight 3) On the Calculation of Volume 1 by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland

It just so happens that I've read some excellent Danish literature this year.

Read this for #NovNov25.

LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR by Pirkko Saisio. Translated from the Finnish by Mia Spangenberg. Penguin International Writers series.

"Grandpa sits down at the table, takes a bottle of Karhu Vodka out of his briefcase, and puts it on the floor.

"Tell her to get me a glass out of the cupboard," Grandpa instructs me.

"Get him a glass out of the cupboard," I tell Grandma, and Grandma says:

"Tell him to get it himself.""

THE WAX CHILD by Olga Ravn. Translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken. Published by New Directions.

On my blog today, a new post on Olga Ravn's dark and haunting novella of witchcraft and witch hunts, THE WAX CHILD. Translated by Martin Aitken.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/t...

What starts as a village cozy ala Miss Read morphs into something midnight black and then takes an abrupt turn into something so moving I was crying my eyes out in the middle of the night (cat was not impressed). Wonderful, masterfully designed book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Wonderful! So glad you loved it:)

Oh yes, would definitely recommend giving THE WAX CHILD a try. I vaguely recall reading the first few pages of THE EMPLOYEES the year it was published I think and setting it aside. Wasn't working for me then, but I might try again.

The Wax Child – Olga Ravn (tr. Martin Aitken) Olga Ravn created a stir with the publication of her novella, The Employees, in 2020, which was subsequently shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize. I’ve yet to read it, but the latest…

My new blog post on THE WAX CHILD by Olga Ravn - a dark, haunting novella of witchcraft and witch hunts, power and misogyny, and how women are scapegoated. Translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/t...

The Wax Child – Olga Ravn (tr. Martin Aitken) Olga Ravn created a stir with the publication of her novella, The Employees, in 2020, which was subsequently shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize. I’ve yet to read it, but the latest…

My new blog post on THE WAX CHILD by Olga Ravn - a dark, haunting novella of witchcraft and witch hunts, power and misogyny, and how women are scapegoated. Translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/t...

Thank you, Ira!

I was always happy in the morning, not always in the afternoon and never after sunset.

"Brown is the color of homemade malt beer, rust, barges, and chocolate: the monotonous familiarity of everyday life.

She likes rust."

"Red is no color for dreams.

Red is the color of deception - she learns that early.

When Mother and Aunt Ulla spread rouge on their lips, they become inexplicably excited, and you can't believe the promises that slip out of their painted lips."

LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR by Pirkko Saisio. Translated from the Finnish by Mia Spangenberg. European International Writers series.

"During the day she longs for the deep blue of her dreams, but she only finds pale fragments: a fair summer sky; a field of bird's-eye; a mop of cornflowers deep in a ditch; the window frames painted blue when Porkkala peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union."

It’s a good one isn‘t it? Perfectly captures the balance between humour and sadness (as ever). I only got around to reading The Lowlife this year: hope your excellent review encourages more listeners/readers to try it!

Thank you:) I'm so glad Faber reissued it.

LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR by Pirkko Saisio. Translated from the Finnish by Mia Spangenberg. Penguin International Writers series.

"...she's jealous of her mother and her dreamy contentment, the casual femininity from which she knows she will forever be excluded."

Review by sarahmatthews - The Artist The Artist by Lucy Steeds Read on audioNarrator: Tanya ReynoldsJohn Murray Press Pub. 2025, 2...

I’ve written a few thoughts on The Artist by Lucy Steeds, 2025, one of the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlisted titles that appealed to me this year 💙📚 #BookSky #BookReview #audiobook https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/89ab9704-f5ff-443b-b401-0de4122b4dc5

I listened to the @backlisted.bsky.social episode on this book last night and it was excellent.

Discovered, rediscovered and enjoyed by many @backlisted.bsky.social listeners, The Lowlife is a tremendous read:

Same here😬