Scribe Publications How We Are Translated: a novel

LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE People say Im sorry all the time when it can mean both Im sorry I hurt you and Im sorry someone else did something I have nothing to do with. Its like the English language gave up on trying to find a word for sympathy which wasnt also the word for guilt. Swedish immigrant Kristin wont talk about the Project growing inside her. Her Brazilian-born Scottish boyfriend Ciaran wont speak English at all; he is trying to immerse himself in a Swedish språkbad language bath, to prepare for their future, whatever the fick that means. Their Edinburgh flat is starting to feel very small. As this young couple is forced to confront the thing that they are both avoiding, they must reckon with the bigger questions of the world outside, and their places in it. Autorid: Jessica Gaitán Johannesson