In translation - Annamarie Jagose

'I arrange some cushions on the rug and the professor lies across these as if trained. I kneel beside him, then straddle his buttocks, thinking I may as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb. Professor Mody does not know the saying: he lies quiet and meek beneath me.'Helena begins an affair with the renowned translator, Navaz Nicholson, and travels to India, a country she never fully understands. Abandoned by Navaz, a strange pride does not allow Helena to return and she maintains anonymous contact with her lover by intercepting instalments of the Japanese novel Navaz is translating. Rewriting at first a word here, a phrase there, she finally takes over completely, writing the novel's love triangle beyond its original ending. But there are more than words to Helena's life. There is Lillian, the performance artist who takes off a disguise only to assume another, her aunt who sends postcards of herself from around the world, Prakash, her Indian tour guide and the mysterious Professor Mody with his penchant for erotic Haiku. Annamarie Jagose's remarkable first novel has already been published to rave reviews, and several major awards, in New Zealand.';It's ultimately the genuine poignancy of its love stories, the robust humour of the real world, and Jagose's fabulous use of language that make In Translation such a pleasure to read'Evening Post'Passionate, full of erotic yearning.'Metro