English books from Europe
Recommended English books (1883)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you speak English here are some English books from Europe for the next part of the "Read Around The World Challenge".
1871.
DenmarkDescription:
'Utterly, agonisingly compulsive ... a masterpiece' Liz Jensen, Guardian The second volume in The Copenhagen Trilogy, the searing portrait of a woman's journey through love, friendship, ambition and addiction, from one of Denmark's most celebrated twentieth-century writers Forced to leave school early, Tove embarks on a chequered career in a string of low-paid, menial jobs. But she is hungry: for poetry, for love, for real life to begin. As Europe slides into war, she must navigate exploitative bosses, a Nazi landlady and unwelcome sexual encounters on the road to hard-won independence. Yet sh... continue
1872.
Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson EN
FranceDescription:
An art expert joins a detective to investigate a horrific murder on a Swedish island, leading them to a mystery rooted in Viking rites and Scandinavia's deepest, darkest winter. The Queen of French Noir returns with a chilling, utterly captivating historical thriller, based on a true story. Art expert Emma Lindhal is anxious when she's asked to appraise the antiques and artefacts in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found. Emma must work alone, and the Gussman famil... continue
1873.
Yvain by Chretien de Troyes, Chrétien (de Troyes) EN
Description:
A twelfth-century poem by the creator of the Arthurian romance describes the courageous exploits and triumphs of a brave lord who tries to win back his deserted wife's love
Ukraine1875.
Zazie in the Metro by Raymond Queneau EN
Description:
Impish, foul-mouthed Zazie arrives in Paris from the country to stay with Gabriel, her female-impersonator uncle. All she really wants to do is ride the metro, but finding it shut because of a strike, Zazie looks for other means of amusement and is soon caught up in a comic adventure that becomes wilder and more manic by the minute. In 1960 Queneau's cult classic was made into a hugely successful film by Louis Malle. Packed full of word play and phonetic games, Zazie in the Metro remains as stylish and witty as ever. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classi... continue
1876.
Zennor in Darkness by Helen Dunmore EN
Country: Europe / 
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
They stand by side on the rock, facing out to sea. They are hidden from land here. Even spies would see nothing of them. It is spring 1917 in the Cornish coastal village of Zennor, and the young artist Clare Coyne is waking up to the world. Ignoring the whispers from her neighbours, she has struck a rare friendship with D.H. Lawrence and his German wife, who are hoping to escape the war-fever of London. In between painting and visits to her new friends she whiles away the warm days with her cousin John, who is on leave from the trenches, harbouring secrets she couldn't begin to understand. But... continue
1877.
Zero by Gine Cornelia Pedersen EN
NorwayDescription:
"Gina Cornelia Pedersen debuted with this explosive novel, which won the prestigious Tarjei Vesaas First Book Award. Compared, in its home country of Norway, with a 'punk rock single', the unique lyrical style and frank description of life with mental health problems have come together to create on of the most exciting works of fiction from Scandinavia in recent years."--Cover
1878.
Zinky Boys : Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War by Svetlana Alexievich EN
Description:
Winner of the Nobel Prize: "For her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time." --Swedish Academy, Nobel Prize citation
1879.
Zlata's Diary : A Child's Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipović EN
Country: Europe / 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Description:
In a voice both innocent and wise, touchingly reminiscent of Anne Frank's, Zlata Filipovic's diary has awoken the conscience of the world. Now thirteen years old, Zlata began her diary just before her eleventh birthday, when there was peace in Sarajevo and her life was that of a bright, intelligent, carefree young girl. Her early entries describe her friends, her new skis, her family, her grades at school, her interest in joining the Madonna Fan Club. And then, on television, she sees the bombs falling on Dubrovnik. Though repelled by the sight, Zlata cannot conceive of the same thing happenin... continue
1880.
Zofloya : or The Moor by Charlotte Dacre EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
This is the first edition for nearly 200 years of an unduly neglected work, originally published in 1806, by an intriguing and unconventional woman writer. A Gothic tale of lust, betrayal, and multiple murder set in fifteenth-century Venice, the novel's most daring aspect is its anatomy of the central character, Victoria's, intense sexual attraction to her Moorish servant Zofloya. A minor scandal on its first publication, and a significant influence on Byron and Shelley, it contradicts idealized stereotypes in women's writing and challenges the received idea of the Gothic genre's representatio... continue