by Tahmima Anam | Bangladesh
As she plans a party for her son and daughter, Rehana Haque's life will be transformed in a story of one family caught in the middle of the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence, as they face changes and decisions that will have a profound impact on their lives.
by U Sam Oeur | Cambodia
Celebrated Cambodian poet U Sam Oeur narrates his incredible life story, testifies to the horrors of genocide and shares his fervent prayers for peace and freedom through the process of democracy.
by Zhu Wen | China
In five richly imaginative novellas and a short story, Zhu Wen depicts the violence, chaos, and dark comedy of China in the post-Mao era. With subjects ranging from provincial mafiosi to nightmarish families and oppressed factory workers, his claustrophobic narratives depict a spiritually bankrupt society, periodically rocked by spasms of uncontrolled violence.
by Lisa See | China
In nineteenth century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, or "old same," in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The two women exchange messages written on silk fans and handkerchiefs using nu shu, a unique language that women created in order to communicate in secret, sharing their experiences, but when a misunderstanding arises, their friendship threatens to tear apart.
by Arundhati Roy | India
In 1969 in Kerala, India, Rahel and her twin brother, Estha, struggle to forge a childhood for themselves amid the destruction of their family life, as they discover that the entire world can be transformed in a single moment.
by Aravind Adiga | India
Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along.
by Pramoedya Ananta Toer | Indonesia
Coming to grips with the oppression and injustice of the European regime in his country, Minke struggles to assert his voice and the voices of his people - but he is met at every turn by the corruption of those he trusted and by the tragedies that befall those he loves most.
by Haruki Murakami | Japan
An ode to George Orwell's "1984" told in alternating male and female voices relates the stories of Aomame, an assassin for a secret organization who discovers that she has been transported to an alternate reality, and Tengo, a mathematics lecturer and novice writer.
by Haruki Murakami | Japan
The eight masterful stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator: a lonely man. Some of them are nostalgic looks back at youth. Others are set in adulthood and the stunning title story. Occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Haruki himself is present. The stories all touch beautifully on love and loss, childhood and death.
by Ryunosuke Akutagawa | Japan
Widely acknowledged as "the father of the Japanese short story," Ryunosuke Akutagawa remains one of the most influential Japanese writers of all time. Rashomon and Other Stories, a collection of his most celebrated work, resonates as strongly today as when it first published a century ago.
by Outhine Bounyavong | Laos
"Death Price" tells of a Lao woman desperate to get on a plane. She offers a trivial bribe of 500 kip (about 5 US cents by today's rates) but the money is refused. Eventually she manages to secure a seat, but at the last moment some big shots arrive and she gets bumped. Thing is, the plane crashes, and the man who had refused her bribe is court-martialed because the plane's manifest differs from the list of casualties. This is efficient karma indeed.
by Tash Aw | Malaysia
Running an impressive Chinese silk factory in the Malaysian region throughout the first half of the twentieth century, Johnny Lim finds his life complicated by his son's belief that he uses the factory as a front for illegal businesses.
by Nu Nu Yi | Mayanmar
Censored for more than 12 years by the Burmese government, 'Smile as they Bow' is a mixture of Arundhati Roy and Ha Jin - an illuminating, beautiful and, above all, satisfying portrayal of a culture many have never witnessed.
by Kiran Desai | Nepal
An embittered judge who wants only to retire in peace lives in a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, when his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, arrives on his doorstep. The judge's cook watches over Sai distractedly, for his thoughts are often on his son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one gritty New York restaurant to another.
by Adam Johnson | North Korea
The son of an influential father who runs an orphan work camp, Pak Jun Do rises to prominence using instinctive talents and eventually becomes a professional kidnapper and romantic rival to Kim Jong Il.
by Malala Yousafzai | Pakistan
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday October 9, 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price.
by Randy Ribay | Phillippines
When seventeen-year-old Jay Reguero learns his Filipino cousin and former best friend, Jun, was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, he flies to the Philippines to learn more.
by Min Jin Lee | South Korea
In early 1900s Korea, Sunja is the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family. Her unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan. Caught in the indifferent arc of history, through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, Sunja's family members are bound together by deep roots as they face enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.
by John Burdett | Thailand
Bangkok policeman Sonchai Jitplecheep investigates the murder of an African American Marine sergeant and the subsequent death of his partner, making his way through a world of illicit drugs and corruption to find a vicious killer.
by Chart Korbjitti | Thailand
A short novel about the almost systematic dismantling of a Bangkok family, as a result of the poverty trap they find themselves in when the father tries to take them out of rented accommodation and into a corrugated metal-and-wood shack of their own.
by Tom Bissell | Uzbekistan
The author combines the story of his travels with a beguiling chronicle of Uzbekistan’s striking culture and long history of violent subjugation by despots from Jenghiz Khan to Joseph Stalin. Alternately amusing and sobering, this is a gripping portrait of a fascinating place, and the debut of a singularly gifted young writer.
by Andrew Pham | Vietnam
The author, a young Vietnamese-American man, shares the story of his solo bicycle journey around the Pacific Rim to Vietnam, and discusses his search for cultural identity in the Vietnam of his childhood.
by Bao Ninh | Vietnam
Bao Ninh, a former North Vietnamese soldier, provides a strikingly honest look at how the Vietnam War forever changed his life, his country, and the people who live there.