Audiobooks for Women in Translation Month!

Translated from Arabic by Marilyn Booth

Jokha Alharthi and translator Marlyn Booth won the International Man Booker Prize a few years ago for Celestial Bodies, and now the duo is back with Bitter Orange Tree. This novel follows Zuhour, a Omani woman attending university in the United Kingdom. As we follow Zuhour’s first-person narration, she describes her life in the UK as she struggles to find a way to fit in while also being drawn back to Oman in her memories of her family’s past. The narrative alternates between Zuhour’s present and her sharing her adopted grandmother’s past. Everything in Zuhour’s life leads back to Bint Amir, the woman who was a wet nurse to her father and helped raise him and his children. Raghad Chaar performs the audiobook, deftly moving from chapter to chapter, adding to each character’s emotional depth and personality.

Translated from Korean by Jamie Chang

Born in 1982, Kim Jiyoung quickly learned that boys were more favored in society. When her younger brother was born, she couldn’t help but notice her parents giving him preferential treatment. As Jiyoung moves through her life, she struggles to make a place for herself in a society that only sees women as mothers and wives. She loves her career, but finsd it difficult to progress when she’s denied promotions just because she’s a woman. Jamie Chang’s translation captivates listeners with its no nonsense prose, and audiobook narrator Kathleen Choe does a magnificent job performing the text, capturing listeners’ attention from the first few minutes.