These frank, unsparing, and varied stories by women in their twenties and thirties reveal the evolution of women's consciousness in Russia through two decades of violent social upheaval—including the dramatic monologue of a teenage girl who grew up in an orphanage; an escape to the Altai Mountains and the mysterious local rites and lore; the seamy side of Siberian business and a young man's failure to get to grips with it; the tricky backstage life of a provincial theater; and the private life of a wealthy family that mirrors the social stratification in Russian society today.

One morning, Nothomb receives a letter from one of her readers, an American soldier called Melvin Mapple, who is fighting in Iraq. Horrified by the endless violence around him, he takes comfort in over-eating. Over-eating until his fat starts to suffocate him and he can barely fit into his XXXXL clothes. Disgusted with himself, but unable to control his eating, he takes his mind off his ever-growing bulk by naming it Scheherazade and pretending that he is not alone at night with his flesh. Although initially repulsed, Nothomb is fascinated and begins exchanging letters in earnest with Mapple.

Amélie Nothomb was born in Japan of Belgian parents in 1967. She lives in Paris. Since her debut on the French literary scene a little more than a decade ago, Amélie Nothomb has published a novel a year, every year. Her edgy fiction, unconventional thinking, and public persona have combined to transform her into a worldwide literary sensation. Amélie's books have been translated into over fifteen different languages and been awarded numerous prizes including the French Academy's 1999 Grand Prix for the Novel, the René-Fallet prize, the Alain-Fournier prize, and the Grand Prix Giono in 2008.

Recently divorced Solvej rents an isolated farmhouse in Hvium so she can see her little girl again. She wants to start over. She becomes indebted to her neighbour, Søren, who is always close by. Just as Solvej begins to feel happy and settled, darkness descends and she discovers the people around Hvium are not as they seem.In a place that hides secrets and lies, Solvej must ask herself: when should you step in and when should you turn away?

Ida Jessen is a popular and prize-winning Danish author who lives in Copenhagen on Sjælland, the largest island in Denmark.She has written a number of novels and short stories for children and adults, and has translated numerous works from Norwegian and English into Danish, including Norwegian "crime queen" Karin Fossum's novels. The Children is her sixth adult novel.

Winner of the 2011 Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers, Lesleyanne Ryan's debut novel, Braco, takes place over the five days following the fall of Srebrenica in 1995. The narrative follows the perspectives of Bosnian civilians, UN Peacekeepers, Serbian and Bosnian soldiers, as well as a Canadian photojournalist. A retired veteran and former Bosnian Peacekeeper, Ryan vividly captures the visceral tension and horror of Bosnian refugees fleeing Srebrenica, the ensuing massacre of Bosnian men, and the inability of the Dutch Peacekeepers to protect them. The award judges acclaimed the debut novel as a "compelling, captivating, and fast-paced novel, from its vivid and intriguing prologue set in Srebrenica to an ending that fits, if not satisfies."

One day Emile receives guests who decide to stay—although they do ask the host's permission first. But how can he refuse, for they are his new wife's family and denying them access to his place would mean creating trouble he'd rather avoid…

Oh no, he can't avoid trouble all together, despite his best efforts. Emile wakes up one morning in the home he cannot recognize, and things he sees everywhere—on the walls, on the floor, on the ceiling and in the least expected corners of his house—pretty quickly turn into a form of daunting domestic insanity. His wife's family, Sarah's band, certainly means well, but their overrated enthusiasm suffocates Emile and becomes his biggest challenge. Will Polonsky survive the test? Will his marriage survive?

Denysenko's entertaining novel isn't based on mere escapism; it's introspective, reflective, filled with folk wisdom and subtle irony—the characteristics of top-notch classic humor. Saraband Sarah's Band is a non-pretentious work of prose, aiming to inspire healthy criticism and a detached look at the society it plays out in, with its recognizable Jewish and Russian-Orthodox theme so particularly filigree and enjoyable in this novel.

Award-winning author Larysa Denysenko was born in Kyiv in 1973 in the family of the Lithuanian-Greek origin. She learned the Ukrainian language when she began working for the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice at the age of 23. She graduated from the Law Department of Kyiv National University, Central European University in Prague and legislative drafting courses at the Dutch Ministry of Justice. Larysa has written seven books including three children's books.

Kafka was an attractive, slender, and elegant man-something of a dandy, who captivated his friends and knew how to charm women. He seemed to have had four important love affairs: Felice, Julie, Milena, and Dora. All of them lived far away, in Berlin or Vienna, and perhaps that's one of the reasons that he loved them: he chose long-distance relationships so he could have the pleasure of writing to them, without the burden of having to live with them. He was engaged to all four women, and four times he avoided marriage. At the end of each love affair, he threw himself into his writing and produced some of his most famous novels: Amerika, The Trial, and The Castle.

In this charming book, author Jacqueline Raoul-Duval follows the paper trail of Kafka's ardor. She uses his voice in her own writing, and a third of the book is pulled from Kafka's journals. It is the perfect introduction to this giant of world literature, and captures his life and romances in a style worthy of his own.

They say Frasquita knows magic, that she is a healer with occult powers, that perhaps she is a sorcerer. She does indeed posses a remarkable gift, one that has been passed down to the women in her family for generations. From rags, off-cuts, and rough fabric she can create gowns and other garments so magnificent, so alive, that they are capable of masking any kind defect or deformity (and pregnancies!). They bestow a breathtaking and blinding beauty on whoever wears them.

But Fasquita's gift makes others in her small Andalusian village jealous. And to make matters worse, Frasquita is an adulteress (it matters not that her betrayal came at her husband's behest after he gambled on her honor, and lost, at a cock fight). She is hounded and eventually banished from her home. What follows is an extraordinary adventure as she travels across southern Spain all the way to Africa with her five children in tow. Her exile becomes a quest for a better life, for herself and her daughters, whom she hopes can escape the ironclad fate of her family.

After two sisters, Laure and Marie, learn of their parents' plan to sell the family's summer retreat, L'Agapanthe, they devise a scheme for attracting a wealthy suitor who can afford to purchase the estate. Selling it would mean more than just losing a place to go during the summer—for the sisters, it's become a necessary part of their character, their lifestyle, and their past. L'Agapanthe, a place of charm and nostalgia, is the perfect venue to exercise proper etiquette and intellect, though not all its visitors are socially savvy, especially when it's a matter of understanding the relationships between old money and the nouveau riche. The comedy of manners begins: with stock traders, yogis, fashion designers, models, swindlers, the Mafia, and a number of celebrity guests.

Laure—the witty, disarming, and poignant narrator—guides the reader through elegant dinners, midnight swims in the bay, and conversations about current events, literature, art, and cinema. The Suitors is an amusing insider's look at the codes, manners, and morals of French high society.

Cécile David-Weill is French and American. She began her career in publishing at the prestigious Editions Gallimard before taking over editorial directorship of Editions Balland and then setting up her own publishing company, Editions Cavatines. She published her first novel, Beguin (Grasset, 1996) under the name of Cécile de la Baume, which was released in an English translation, Crush (Grove, 1997). She is also the author of Femme de (Grasset, 2002). The Suitors is her third novel. Cécile is also a regular contributor to the online French news magazine Le Point, with a column entitled "Letters from New York." She was born in New York, where she currently lives.

On a small snow-covered island so tiny that it can't be found on any map lives twelve-year-old Minou, her philosopher Papa (a descendent of Descartes), Boxman the magician, and a clever dog called No-Name. A year earlier Minou's mother left the house wearing her best shoes and carrying a large black umbrella. She never returned. One morning Minou finds a dead boy washed up on the beach. Her father decides to lay him in the room that once belonged to her mother. Can her mother's disappearance be explained by the boy? Will Boxman be able to help find her? Minou, unwilling to accept her mother's death, attempts to find the truth through Descartes' philosophy. Over the course of her investigation Minou will discover the truth about loss and love, a truth that The Vanishing Act conveys in a voice that is uniquely enchanting.

Mette Jakobsen was born in Denmark in 1964. She holds degrees in philosophy and creative writing and is the author of several plays. The Vanishing Act is her first novel. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

With a name like Jacques Boucher de Crévecoeur de Perthes, it ought to be easy to become a hero. Yet, how to go about it? A real-life nineteenth-century paleontologist and explorer, excavated here by Christine Montalbetti to serve as her protagonist, Jacques has tried everything: fighting off pirates, writing poetry, becoming a dandy, a man of culture… all without ever quite feeling he fits the bill. At last, when Jacques decides he'll make his name by discovering evidence of early man, it seems we, his audience, will be treated to a novel about mankind itself—unless, of course, our putative hero gets shanghaied into a love story along the way. The Origin of Man is the story of one man—and all humanity—waging a war against oblivion without ever quite winning the day. It's also a comedy about being immersed in heroic and fantastical events without one's ever noticing.

After a global catastrophe called the Great Reduction, the number of people living on Earth has become fixed, remaining a constant three billion. The concept of death no longer exists. Instead people are reborn anywhere on the planet with an in-code that keeps track of information about all their previous incarnations. Humankind is no longer made up of individuals - people are only particles making up one composite organism called The Living. These particles live happily and die happily, according to a government-determined schedule. All of society is connected directly from the brain to the social network (Socio) and family and country are now of no importance. Society is global, and attachment to parents and children is denounced as a deviation. Yet - there is one man born without an in-code - a spare human being. His birth increases the number of The Living by one, which threatens global harmony. Who is the man known as 'Zero' and how will The Living survive? Anna Starobinets has created a truly enthralling, disturbing and unique anti-utopian fantasy novel that will have the reader gripped from page one.

In early 80's Ukraine is stricken by perestroika and struggles for "democracy", and Afghanistan is in the flames of a war where hundreds of eighteen-year-old youths are killed every day. Their peer, Dan, a student of cinematography, hardly cares about social problems anywhere on the planet. But one fatal encounter with a mysterious young lady in a picturesque corner of the Carpathians changes his life forever. Unable to let go of his love after getting lost with her in the woods for one beautiful night, the young man's fascination with the actress turns into an obsession. He deliberately goes through all the circles of hell in Afghanistan, striving to burn out the traces of his unrequited love. Years later his native country starts experiencing a real advertising boom amidst which he finds a new way to apply his creative talent and inner strengths. However, the past of his love rushes back into his life and now this obsession takes him from one continent to another.

The taut psychological thriller The Lost Button keeps the reader transfixed. The novel encompasses an entire era from the mid-1970s to the modern day with its geography stretching over the European region including Kiev, the Ukraine's periphery, Russia and Montenegro, and at last the United States. It explores evergreen concepts of love, devotion, and betrayal and emphasizes the idea that whenever and wherever one lives, a tiny detail like a lost button has the power to set off a chain of events that could lead to either one's greatest happiness or one's greatest tragedy. It is about not looking back, but always valuing what you have—today and forever.

Irene Rozdobudko is one of the most popular writers in Ukraine today. A graduate of Kyiv National University in journalism, Irene has worked for Rodoslav, one of Kyiv's major newspapers, and the journal Suchasnast. She has worked on national radio and later became editor of Natalie, a women's magazine, and editor-in-chief for the magazine Storytelling Caravan ‒ Ukraine.

Mathilde Lewly—a female painter at the dawn of the twentieth century—has achieved notoriety among the Parisian avant-garde. She and her husband, also a talented young artist, pursue their separate visions side by side in a Clichy atelier, galvanized by the artistic ferment that surrounds them. But the couple are threatened by the shadow of Mathilde's little sister, Eugénie: since the two girls' sudden departure from their native England, Eugénie has been determined to vault the eight years separating her from Mathilde. Now, devoured by envy and haunted by a past she never actually experienced, the "little one" hurls herself into the artistic and personal life of her elder sister. It is the birth of a fierce rivalry, an emotional tug-of-war, played out against the bohemian riot of the last century's wildest years. But will the First World War's sudden and brutal eruption allow Mathilde to escape this intimate conflict and achieve her destiny?

Brigette Lozerec'h hasn't stopped writing since the 1982 publication of her first novel, L'Intérimaire, which has been translated into numerous languages and into English as The Temp. Since then she has published six novels and a biography of the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.