In July the Translations Book Club picks up Duanwad Pimwana’s Bright (trans.: Mui Poopoksakul), the first novel by a Thai woman to appear in English outside of Thailand.

A modern classic in Thailand, Bright is taught there in hundreds of schools and universities, and has sold an estimated 155,500 copies.

This is a book that is equal parts melancholic and exuberant, by an author with a knack for finding the gap between who we are and who we’d like to be.

When five-year-old Kampol’s father tells him to sit on the kerb and await his return, the confused boy does as he’s told. He waits and waits, until eventually he realises his father may not be coming back. In his parents’ absence, Kampol is adopted by the community and raised on rotation by the local adults.

Flea markets, the search for a ten-baht coin, pet crickets eaten for dinner, bouncy ball fads, and loneliness so merciless that it kills a boy’s appetite: Duanwad Pimwana’s urban vignettes form an off-beat and myth-like coming-of-age story about an unforgettable young boy and the community surrounding him.

New members are most welcome but spaces are limited. The event link below will be activated from 9am on Wednesday 22 June and spaces will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Feel free to send us an email if you have any questions.