The Translator: A Novel - Hardcover

A brilliant odyssey of a mother and daughter. In clear, lyric prose, Nina Schuyler leads the reader into a dazzling kaleidoscope of different languages and the under- currents of love and anger that belong to all of them. A profound, suspenseful and beautifully written book.--Thaisa Frank, author of Heidegger's Glassesand Enchantment

After a brain injury that impairs her language skills, Hanne, whose life's work is translation, is forced to fumble for words. A woman whose highest virtue has been correctness and precision comes to discover that the language of the heart is always a fumbling one, and the art of translation becomes a beautiful metaphor for the difficult art of traversing the border between ourselves and the people we love. Schuyler's prose is beautifully elegant and understated, with every detail made to count in weaving a rich emotional tapestry.--Catherine Brady, author of Curled in the Bed of Love, winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction

In Hanne Schubert's talent for language, Nina Schuyler delivers the importance of words in literature and in life. In her loss, we better understand the long road of grief, and the distance we will travel for our children.--Meg Waite Clayton, author of bestseller The Wednesday Sisters and The Wednesday Daughters

A lyrical, haunting tale delivered with both grace and smarts. Nina Schuyler skillfully strips away her translator character's primary language, and sends her on a journey of self-discovery to Japan. You'll be thankful you followed.--Lalita Tademy, Author of the New York Times bestsellers Cane River and Red River

When renowned translator Hanne Schubert falls down a flight of stairs, she suffers from an unusual but real condition — the loss of her native language. Speaking only Japanese, a language learned later in life, she leaves for Japan. There, to Hanne’s shock, the Japanese novelist whose work she recently translated confronts her publicly for sabotaging his work.Reeling, Hanne seeks out the inspiration for the author’s novel — a tortured, chimerical actor, once a master in the art of Noh theater. Through their passionate, volatile relationship, Hanne is forced to reexamine how she has lived her life, including her estranged relationship with her daughter. In elegant and understated prose, Nina Schuyler offers a deeply moving and mesmerizing story about language, love, and the transcendence of family.