Here are five great novels, newly translated. Enjoy!
Minyoung Kan, Plant Lady
translated by Shanna Tan
(Berkley)
Easily finished in an afternoon, Plant Lady is a gem of a thriller, featuring a plant shop owner who spends her spare time quietly dispatching terrible men and turning them into fertilizer. As her shop becomes an insta-perfect icon, and her plant knowledge gains her international repute, her extracurricular activities spread through the whisper network, drawing desperate women and suspicious police alike. No matter what happens, one thing is certain: no one leaves the shop without buying a plant. No one. I’m glad this book is fiction. If the titular Plant Lady ever found out how I killed my calatheas, I’d be a goner.
Akane Araki, Murder at the End of the World
Translated by Jesse Kirkwood
(Puskin Vertigo)
What would you do if the world was ending in two months? Probably not learn to drive, but that’s exactly what Haru, the novel’s 23-year-old protagonist, decides to do with her last moments on earth (she is, to be fair, driving stick shift). Haru isn’t expecting to discover a murder victim in the trunk of her car, but luckily, her driving instructor’s a former cop, and since the two of them have nothing else to do while awaiting their impending doom, they might as well solve a murder. Despite its dark premise, this Edogawa Rampo-winning debut is life-affirming—and an essential reminder that even at the precipice of apocalypse, a good death can still be possible.
Noëlle Michel, The Shadows Tomorrow
Translated by Frank Wynne
(Simon & Schuster)
In Noëlle Michel’s newly translated parable of society and spectacle, Neanderthals have been brought back to life—and made the subject of an enormously popular reality show from within their nature reserve. Could the world’s ongoing obsession with the minutiae of their lives be covering more sinister purposes for their renewed existence? What part do humans play in the unfolding drama, as perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders, or allies? A passionate and altogether fascinating entry into the world of speculative thrillers, The Shadows Tomorrow is a must-read.
Raphael Montes, The Secret Dinner
Translated by Zoë Perry
(Celadon)
Raphael Montes has been a favorite of mine ever since I read his darkly comedic kidnapping story, Perfect Days (the psychopathic narrator not only abducts a woman but also…forcibly edits her novel, which is just the worst thing you can ever do to a writer). I’ve been waiting to read more from Montes ever since, and The Secret Dinner, his first US publication in over a decade, seems well worth the wait. In The Secret Dinner, a group of broke roommates finds a novel way to make rent: hosting private dinners for the ultrawealthy, where they serve one special ingredient, not available anywhere else—human flesh. A satirical (and literal) evisceration of foodie culture and wealthy excess, The Secret Dinner should be read in public, while eating a very bloody piece of meat, and snickering softly. If everyone around is not freaked out by the time you finish your meal then you are DOING IT WRONG.
Kim Bo-Young, A Plagued Sea
Translated by Sophie Bowman
(Nightfire)
A Plagued Sea is a gorgeously gruesome entry into a year already marked by literary grotesqueries (check out august clark’s The Felicity Complex, Alex T. Singer’s Angel Country, and Robert Jackson Bennett’s A Trade of Blood for additional body horror excellence out in 2026). In Kim Bo-young’s novella, an earthquake brings a plague from the ocean depths to a seaside village, and residents and tourists slowly succumb to bizarre, transformative symptoms. As the disease spreads and he quarantine surrounding them tightens, the possibility of escape vanishes, and everyone hunkers to live side by side with their newly monstrous neighbors. Hey, anything can be endured once you get used to it!
