Translations (Paperback)
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From a dazzling new voice in British fiction: a nuanced and blistering portrait of the growing pains of young womanhood, for fans of Enter Ghost, Martyr!, and The Coin
'Breathless, bold, searching and passionate. A really remarkable debut' Samantha Harvey
While her classmates venture off in giggling groups to Asia and South America, Lila Ruth plans her gap year alone. Craving independence - and licking the wounds inflicted by a tumultuous final year of school - she decides to take on a summer of hard, honest work under the desert sun. She's going to live on a kibbutz.
Arriving in Tel Aviv, it soon becomes clear that Lila Ruth's dream of kibbutz life is embarrassingly naïve. Unwilling to retreat home, scrambling for a new plan, she accepts an unusual gig translating a novel from Hebrew - a language she doesn't speak - into English. As the summer goes on, the project becomes an exercise in finding and making meaning, sometimes with unintended consequences. Desperate for connection, Lila Ruth finds herself falling in love - and must finally reckon with the choices she's made.
Translations (Ebook)
Preorder from
From a dazzling new voice in British fiction: a nuanced and blistering portrait of the growing pains of young womanhood, for fans of Enter Ghost, Martyr!, and The Coin
'Breathless, bold, searching and passionate. A really remarkable debut' Samantha Harvey
While her classmates venture off in giggling groups to Asia and South America, Lila Ruth plans her gap year alone. Craving independence - and licking the wounds inflicted by a tumultuous final year of school - she decides to take on a summer of hard, honest work under the desert sun. She's going to live on a kibbutz.
Arriving in Tel Aviv, it soon becomes clear that Lila Ruth's dream of kibbutz life is embarrassingly naïve. Unwilling to retreat home, scrambling for a new plan, she accepts an unusual gig translating a novel from Hebrew - a language she doesn't speak - into English. As the summer goes on, the project becomes an exercise in finding and making meaning, sometimes with unintended consequences. Desperate for connection, Lila Ruth finds herself falling in love - and must finally reckon with the choices she's made.
Siofra Dromgoole
Siofra Dromgoole works as a bookseller at John Sandoe Books. She has written for theatre, film, TV, and radio: her award-nominated plays have been performed to critical acclaim nationally and internationally; her most recent play After Sex was published by Methuen. In 2025, her new translation of Eugene Onegin toured the UK, playing at Holland Park Opera House ('Excellent' – The Times). Her book of poetry Goodbye Scarecrow was published by the San Mei Gallery, and she is currently co-writing a queer vampire western for the BBC. The Book of Lila Ruth is her debut novel.