Book review: Moonlight in Odessa

By
By Janet Skeslien Charles

I first became acquainted with Janet Skeslien Charles’s debut novel at the beginning of 2010, when it was featured on BBC Radio 4 as Book at Bedtime. For two weeks, every day I looked forward to my 15-minute escape to the Ukraine and the world of Daria, via the voice of Jane Collingwood. I wasn’t expecting to read the book as well – in the same way that I tend not to read a novel when I have already seen the film version – but when I saw it by chance on a bookshelf in the library I couldn’t resist.

And I’m glad I didn’t.

Moonlight in Odessa is the story of Daria, a smart Ukrainian girl who lives in Odessa with her grandmother, Boba. She loves English and, despite having to dodge the advances of both her boss and a local mobster, she is happy to work as a secretary at an Israeli shipping company where she can use the language on a daily basis. Daria has also a second job as interpreter at Soviet Unions, an online matchmaking service for Western men looking for an Eastern European wife.

Despite witnessing all that is wrong with the mail-order bride system, Daria is encouraged by her grandmother to move to California and to marry Tristan. He seems dedicated and reliable, everything that she is looking for in a relationship. However, crossing oceans and diving into a new culture with a heart full of enthusiasm might not be enough for Daria to distance herself from the life she left behind. Especially from the men that she left waiting for her.

Having listened to an abridged version of the book, reading the book was a little like meeting old friends and getting to know them better, with all their quirks, beliefs and dreams. I also enjoyed taking a virtual tour of Odessa, whose beauty Daria never stops to praise, and the cultural differences that she encounters in California are portrayed in a very clever and funny way.

In fact, humour is a strong feature throughout Moonlight in Odessa. This is often dark humour, which makes you smile but, at the same time, allows you to recognise the surrealism of the situations or the weaknesses of the people described.

An added bonus is the respect that Janet Skeslien Charles shows towards translators, whom she gives space on her website to talk about their experiences working on this novel:

Translating Daria by Manon Smits, the Dutch translator
Odessa on my Mind by Astrid Arz, the German translator
Traveling to Odessa by Ylva Stålmarck, the Swedish translator

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book review: She’s Never Coming Back

By
Image
By Hans Koppel Translated by Kari Dickson Published by Sphere It is safe to say that my choice of reading material is not usually truculent. That’s why I surprised myself when I decided to read a novel whose front cover prominently displays a quote describing it as a ‘terrifying crime novel’. I started to read expecting the worse and - it being impossible to put the book down - a few hours later I was trying to understand what had hit me. Let’s be clear: I loved this book and I’m grateful to Sphere for publishing this Swedish novel by author Karl Petter Lidbeck who, being a children’s literature author, decided to have it published under the pen name of Hans Koppel. I can see why he doesn’t want to have the two genres mixing on the bookshelves! The plot is simple enough: one day after work, Ylva does not return home. When she hasn’t returned 24 hours later, her husband Mike starts to worry and calls the police. Ylva seems to have disappeared without a trace and, month after month, Mike
Read more

Booknet: a new platform for authors and readers

By
Image
‘Ooooh, what is Booknet ?’ I hear you ask… Booknet is a popular literary social media network, self-publishing platform, and Bookscription eBook sales model, all of which is being introduced to the UK following rapid growth in Latin America and Eastern Europe since 2015. How does it work? Booknet is both a successful literary self-publishing platform and a social network, founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs in 2015. Booknet has gained significant traction in countries such as Ukraine, Russia (the Russian division was sold in the spring of 2022 because of the war between Ukraine and Russia), as well as Latin America. The company is now actively investing resources into the development of its English-language version. Authors can either publish their books with free access by readers, or sell them after obtaining commercial status through the platform. Booknet provides free advertising for eBooks sold by their authors on the platform. Booknet’s distinctive features (apart from being a pop
Read more

“Italy in books” - reading challenge 2011

By
Image
Why this challenge? This year I’ve decided to host a reading challenge because I think that they are a brilliant idea. They help to make reading a more collective experience and are a great way to find out more about any particular author / genre / topic and get to know about books you might never have come across. I chose this topic because - as an Italian who has been living abroad for many years now - I feel the need to learn more about my home country and I’m curious to see the difference between the way it is portrayed by native Italians and others. The details of the challenge The challenge will run from January, 1st 2011 to December, 31st 2011 . The aim of the challenge is to read at least 12 books that are set in Italy. Whether written by Italian authors or not, it doesn’t matter. They don’t have to be set exclusively in Italy but this country needs to play a significant role in the book. The challenge can include non-fiction books about Italy. You can also review Italian lea
Read more