Reading is one of my biggest passions. Collecting books, browsing charity shops and bookstores, curling up on the couch with a coffee and devouring a paperback novel. When I can’t travel for whatever reason, picking up a book set in another country, another culture, another time period, is the next best thing! Here is a list of tried-and-reviewed novels set and written by authors from all over the world, featuring 10 books! Let’s get going and read around the world!
If you like reading too, do check out our other bookish posts, including a book recommendation to read in Budapest!
Note: if you only choose one book from this list, PLEASE make it Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad. Purchase it here; you won’t regret it!
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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Black Butterflies – Priscilla Morris
It’s 1992 in Sarajevo and Zora waves goodbye to her family as they head to safety in England. An artist and teacher, Zora decides to stay, determined to remain in the city that she loves. However, over night the city comes under siege, as nationalist gangs take over. Zora finds community in the people left behind, and as the city explodes around them, their friendships are what makes the book so beautiful.
This novel took me by surprise. Initially I wasn’t sure, but as it moved on, through destruction and hope and love, I found myself loving it. The writing is so captivating, and the descriptions of the city so moving. Please do read this book – I feel like it’s a little unknown wonder!
Cyprus: The Island of Missing Trees – Elif Shafak
In a tavern in a city in Cyprus, two teenagers meet and fall in love. Beneath the fig tree that has its roots inside the restaurant, Kostas (Greek Christian), and Defne (Turkish Muslim) carry out their secret, forbidden rendezvous. Then war breaks out, and the teenagers who torn apart.
In modern day London, Ada is sixteen, and wants to know more about where her parents were born. And in her garden is a fig tree, the only connection to Cyprus…
I adore Elif Shafak, and this novel is my absolute favourite. It’s an absolute requirement in your read around the world!
Hungary: Katalin Street – Magda Szabรณ
Three families live on Katalin Street, neighbours and friends. When the Nazis arrive and occupy Budapest, the families are torn apart – the Held family are deported to a camp, their daughter Henrietta hidden by the neighbours. But tragedy strikes, Henrietta is killed, and the survivors are plagued by loss and guilt. Time marches on, and we return to each member of the families as they struggle through political and social changes in Hungary, including Henrietta.
This is a poignant novel, one that took me an age to read because of it. It’s deep and memorable, and leaves a lasting impact. If you want to check out my full review, please go check it out!
Japan: Sweet Bean Paste – Durian Sukegawa
Sentaro is struggling to get by with a criminal record and a dream of being a writer. He sells dorayaki at a confectionary store – a pancake filled with sweet bean paste. Then he meets Tokue, an elderly woman who holds within her the best recipe for sweet bean paste. Sentaro and Tokue become unlikely friends, and he shows her a different kind of life than he ever could have imagined.
This is such a wonderful novel. It’s sweeter than bean paste, and I lapped it up. I have an iffy relationship with Japanese translations, as quite often I feel they lack something integral that stops me fully connecting. However, Sweet Bean Paste is all the feels, and a definite must-read. Full of heart, with a mystery at its centre, it’s a lovely book.
Malaysia: The Night Tiger – Yangsze Choo
It is 1930s Malaysia. There is a Chinese superstition about men turning into tigers. Ren is an orphan boy, and when his master dies, he suddenly has a mission – to reunite Master’s served finger with his body, in just 49 days. If he fails, his master’s soul will roam the earth forever more.
Meanwhile, Ji Lin wants to be a doctor, but is currently an apprentice dressmaker. At night, she is a dancehall girl.
Ren and Ji Lin’s lives intertwine in an unexpected way, especially when a tiger is found in the town.
The Night Tiger is a stunningly rich, atmospheric novel. I love the superstition elements, and how different cultures are melded together. It looks at colonialism, folklore and reaching for dreams and ambitions. It’s gorgeous, and a perfect book for you to begin to read around the world!
Palestine: Enter Ghost – Isabella Hammad
Sonia is an actress, and travels back to her father’s homeland to visit her sister. When in Palestine, she finds herself agreeing to play Gertrude in a play production of Hamlet, led by the enigmatic Marian. Travelling between places in a war-torn country, Sonia becomes part of the troupe, and begins to learn more and more about her homeland.
Enter Ghost was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024, and I honestly still think about it. It could not be more timely, given the state of the current world, and is about far, far more than a reproduction of Hamlet. It’s about historic war, generational war trauma, family and friendships, identity and displacement. As Sonia’s feelings towards Palestine begin to morph, so we are engaged more fully in the stories of the people. Their resistance and perseverance.
It is novels like this that are honestly crucial reading today. They force us to sit and listen to people’s stories. They have the power to change perceptions. If you only pick one from this list, read this book on your journey around the world.
Sri Lanka: Brotherless Night – V.V. Ganeshananthan
It is the 1980s in Sri Lanka. Sashi is a sixteen year old girl growing up with four brothers, dreaming of becoming a doctor. When civil war breaks out, and conflict breaks out around all around them, Sashi finds herself torn between differing political ideologies within her family. As she studies medicine, Sashi finds herself assisting in a makeshift hospital run by the Tamil Tigers, questioning all her moral principles.
This book won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2024, and I LOVED it. It’s a stunningly written book, and Sashi’s narrative is so compelling. If you’re going to read around the world, this is definitely a book to start with!
Syria: The Beekeeper of Aleppo – Christy Lefteri
In Aleppo, Syria, Nuri is a beekeeper, and Afra is an artist. When war breaks out, the husband and wife must flee. However, Afra has gone blind, and so Nuri must care for her on their dangerous journery through Turkey, Greece and Europe, to get to safety in the UK.
Christy Lefteri catapulted into my favourite author’s list with this novel. The writing is so engaging, and the story is honestly unforgettable. It paints Aleppo and Syria in such a beautiful way. It is a real love story between Nuri and Afra, and my goodness, it’s a memorable one.
USA (North Carolina): Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
The ‘Marsh Girl’ has fuelled rumours and gossip in the little fishing village of Barkley Cove for years. Kya Clark is a wild child, living barefoot on the marshland with survival skills to live alone. It’s 1969, and Kya, a gifted artist, lives in solitude, taking care of the precious marsh. Suddenly, two men from town are drawn to her, and her eyes are opened to an entirely different world. When local guy, Chase, is found dead, Kya is the suspect as his murderer.
This is SUCH a good book (the movie was pretty good too!). It’s a gorgeously written novel, almost a poem to the nature that surrounds Kya. Definitely a great book to pick up in the summer! It’s heady and wild, and asks so many questions about societal norms. When you start on your read around the world, Where the Crawdads Sing is a fab edition!
Vietnam: The Mountains Sing – Nguyแป n Phan Quแบฟ Mai
A multigenerational story following the Tran family in Northern Vietnam. It takes place over a huge span of time. In the 1960s and 70s, Huong lives with her grandmother in Hanoi, during the years of the Vietnam War. Huong’s perspective walks us through the loss of their home and how they navigate survival. We jump back to her grandmother’s POV, who talks of her rural village, occupied by the French, then invaded by the Japanese during the Second World War.
Both perspectives are powerful and gut wrenching, uncompromising and beautiful. An absolute must-read! This novel is so utterly beautiful that I shed tears multiple times. It’s one of those rare books that I didn’t want to finish, it was just that good. It’s an eye-opener for sure. I feel this kind of literature is so important in order to learn about the suffering, but also survival of others. If you’re going to Vietnam I especially recommend this book!
Chat with us!
If you have any fab recommendations for books by authors around the world, let us know in the comments! I’ll do a part 2 of Read Around the World at some point because, other than travelling, it really is my favourite thing to do! Have you read any of these novels? What were your thoughts on them?
