How We Are Translated

*can offer dedications on request!*

LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE

Do you ever feel like you're not speaking the same language?

People say 'I'm sorry' all the time when it can mean both 'I'm sorry I hurt you' and 'I'm sorry someone else did something I have nothing to do with'. It's like the English language gave up on trying to find a word for sympathy which wasn't also the word for guilt.

Swedish immigrant Kristin won't talk about her pregnancy. Her Brazilian-born Scottish boyfriend Ciaran won't speak English at all; he is trying to immerse himself in a sprakbad or 'language bath', covering their Edinburgh apartment in post-it notes to teach himself Swedish. 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.

Watch Jessica introduce the book at Lighthouse!