Review: Space Invaders: A Novel

Space Invaders: A Novel by Nona Fernández
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My first read for Women in Translation Month is Space Invaders by Nona Fernandez, translated by Natasha Wimmer, coming out from Graywolf in November or December this year. It is very slim but looks can be so deceiving - it delivered the biggest gut punch with the tiniest gloves ever.

One thing I've noticed as I read more books from around the world, including women in translation, is that many of the stories being told are about living through violent regime change. Space Invaders has a bunch of childhood friends looking back at their years coming of age in Chile during the Pinochet regime. Like most children, all they really know is what they experienced but the context only comes later. It grows in intensity until the end.

The translator is the person who did a lot of the Bolaño works.

I'm a member of the Graywolf Galley Club, which is why I got this early.

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