Image: Victoria Ford / Penguin
Catchy, campy pop songs? Borderline-nonsensical lyrics? Questionable wardrobe choices? Not-so-subtle political voting tactics? Combined, they can mean only one thing: Eurovision.
With the annual music contest’s semifinals now underway, this week will see acts from Finland to Portugal (plus Australia and Israel) vying it out for the coveted winning spot as they hope to win the hearts – and votes – of their European neighbours. In honour of this momentous cultural event, we’ve curated our own menagerie of must-read stories from each of the 37 participating countries (yes, even the micro-state of San Marino).
Albania
Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare was awarded the inaugural International Booker prize for his full body of work in 2005, and again longlisted for the award in 2018 for the English translation of his surreal, dream-like 1978 historical fiction The Traitor's Niche . Set in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire, it follows imperial courier Tundj Hata as, under the Sultan's orders, he delivers the severed heads of dissidents to be displayed in a designated niche in a square in Constantinople. What is ostensibly a sweeping historical adventure is – like much of Kadare's work – a thoughtful and complex reflection on politics, power and rebellion.
Armenia
Initially published in Russian, this debut novel became a runaway bestseller upon its 2009 release, garnering a host of awards and a nomination for the Russian Booker Prize and turning Mariam Petrosyan into one of Armenia’s best-known international novelists. Set in a boarding school for disabled children who, bound by its walls and surveilled by ‘the Outsides’, nevertheless share a bond with the living, breathing building they inhabit, The Gray House is a fantastical magical realist tale about how seeming liabilities can be transfigured into power.
Australia
Narrated by Death itself, The Book Thief follows a nine-year-old girl named Liesel living in foster care in Nazi Germany after her parents have been taken away. Liesel steals books in order to survive, forming relationships with the residents of her new street as she learns to exist under Hitler’s regime. Australian author Markus Zusak penned this beautifully crafted and extremely human novel over 15 years ago, becoming an instant classic and – more recently – a BookTok phenomenon, too.
Austria
Not just one of Austria’s most revered authors but, at least for a time, one of the world’s, Stefan Zweig wrote a wide array of biographies, plays, and fiction, but his masterwork remains Schachnovelle , now known in English as Chess . Written in the years following his emigration to England as he fled the rise of the Nazi Party, Zweig’s final novella was finished in 1941 but not published until 1943, posthumously; Zweig and his wife, Lotte Altmann, were found dead by suicide in 1942. The events of the early 1940s in Europe loom large over Chess , ostensibly a story of a world chess champion challenged by his fellow cruise ship passengers to a series of matches; its central themes of domination and obsession make it a compelling read to this day.
Azerbaijan
Will the real Kurban Said please stand up? Now believed to be the pen name of Lev Nussimbaum, a Jewish man who fled Azerbaijan for Berlin, and later Vienna, during the Russian Revolution, the story behind Ali and Nino 's mysterious author is almost as interesting as that of the book itself (at one point, speculation surrounding Said's true identity included an Austrian countess, who helped publish the novel). A love story between a Muslim boy and Christian girl in early 20th-century Baku, Ali and Nino paints an extraordinary landscape of a country rocked by the First World War. It's a must-read novel for anyone who wants to better understand Azerbaijan and its history.
Belgium
Belgian writer Georges Simenon produced more than 150 novels and novellas under various pseudonyms before he wrote one that he was happy to put his name to. That book, Pietr the Latvian
Croatia
A chance encounter in Paris reunites childhood sweethearts Dora and Luka, who grew up together in a small coastal town of Croatia – but it may not be enough to keep them together. This debut novel from Croatian-born writer Nataša Dragnic is a poetic story of fate, passion, loss, heartbreak and the cosmic twists and turns that can frustrate a lifelong bond between two people. Not your average love story, Every Day, Every Hour has a bit of everything, playing on fairytale tropes, narrative symmetry, and even the Greek classics – as well as a gorgeous descriptive style that will whisk you away to the idyllic Adriatic coast.
Cyprus
Every now and again a thriller comes along that alters the genre for good (think Gone Girl) . Alex Michaelides gets the mention for Cyprus for doing such a thing with his debut contribution to the genre, The Silent Patient . The British-Cypriot author studied psychotherapy for three years, and draws from his experience in the field to shape the novel's plot, which centres on a woman (Alicia Berenson) who hasn’t said a word since she shot her husband six years prior. Prepare to devour this gripping novel as 6 million other readers have before.
Czechia
It's perhaps one of the most famous short stories of all time, and arguably shows Prague-born writer Franz Kafka at his most… Kafkaesque. When Gregor, an ordinary travelling salesman, awakes to find himself transformed into a large insect, he has no choice but to go about his day-to-day business in a hideously altered – and impractical – state of being. With its absurd premise set against a backdrop of the mundane, Metamorphosis is a sharp and darkly humorous allegory about the isolation and obligations of modern life.
Denmark
It's hard to overstate Hans Christian Andersen's lasting impact on children's literature. From The Little Mermaid to The Ugly Duckling to The Emperor's New Clothes, the Danish author's fairy tales are a cultural mainstay for readers young and old, thanks to his memorable characters and moral messages. In this Little Black Classics edition, enjoy a mix of iconic childhood tales like The Princess and the Pea, as well as somewhat lesser-known stories like the darkly didactic Red Shoes.
Estonia
When Jaan Kross was 20 years old, the Soviet Union invaded his native Estonia. A year later, in 1941, Estonia was invaded once again – this time by Germany. Treading Air , Kross’s most famous novel, does not shy away from his home country’s history, with both occupations and decades of upheaval forming the basis of its story. This tumultuous period changes the trajectory of protagonist Ullo Paerand’s life, as he goes from being a civil servant to a revolutionary and witnesses firsthand how his country is marked by war.
Finland
A rediscovered classic and one of Finland’s best-loved books, Unknown Soldiers follows the story of a little-known conflict between Finland and the USSR beginning in 1941. Gritty, disturbing and always darkly funny, this is a searingly honest portrayal of ordinary men fighting for their lives in the midst of conflict. Liesl Yamaguchi, the book's translator, heralded Unknown Soldiers as “a national classic if ever there was one”. It truly sits among the greats of war writing.
France
There's no shortage of brilliant English-translated French books to read, but few made the cultural splash that Madame Bovary did in its time. Gustave Flaubert's tragic tale of Emma Bovary, a married provincial woman seeking escapism through romantic affairs and fantasies, was once considered highly scandalous due to its sordid subject matter, with Flaubert even standing trial for obscenity. Now, with over a century and a half of hindsight, he's largely credited with establishing the Realist movement in European literature, thanks to his mastery of lifelike writing style and perceptive depictions of human nature.
Georgia
This debut novel by Georgian filmmaker Nana Ekvtimishvili has attracted critical attention thanks to her vivid, moving storytelling that unflinchingly scrutinises the indignity, stigma and oppression afforded to those who are overlooked in society. Set in the grim “Residential School for Intellectually Disabled Children” on the outskirts of a post-Soviet Tbilisi, The Pear Field follows 18-year-old Lela, who is old enough to leave the school but, with nowhere to go and a vendetta against one of her teachers, decides to stick around and help fellow student Irakli make the most of his shot at breaking free.
Germany
Germany has borne a wealth of iconic authors: Goethe , Thomas Mann , Rainer Maria Rilke , and many more. But for the purposes of this list, we’ve gone with Nobel Prize-winning author Hermann Hesse, whose 1922 novel Siddhartha – about a young man’s journey for self-discovery, set in India – enjoyed new life in the rise of the 1960s counterculture. Mixing Eastern spirituality with Western philosophy, and touching on love, materialism, sex, psychoanalysis and more, it’s a deeply affecting and timeless moral allegory.
Greece
Homer’s stories so brilliantly evoke the world of Ancient Greece that you feel as if you could reach out and touch it. The Iliad is one of two epics famously attributed to Homer, based around the Trojan War – specifically the stand-off between Achilles and Agamemnon. Homer’s writing has shaped so much of what has come after him that we couldn’t not include him as our pick for Greece. If you’ve been loving any of the recent spate of classical retellings, we strongly advise you to go back to where it all started – it’s well worth a read.
Iceland
Ragnar Jónasson has become a household name both in the UK and in his native Iceland – he is currently penning a novel with the Icelandic Prime Minister – and has a sizeable list of books under his belt. We recommend starting at the beginning of his highly popular Hidden Iceland The Darkness. Hailed as one of the greatest heroines of contemporary detective fiction, Hulda Hermannsdóttir is being forced into early retirement, getting offered one last cold case. With just days to go before she is stripped of her badge, she discovers a sinister link with the death of another woman. This novel is dark, twisty and as chilling as its front cover suggests.
Ireland
James Joyce is perhaps best known for his sprawling magnum opus Ulysses Dubliners is a vignette exploring the inner lives and interactions of a host of characters, from strange gossip about a recently-deceased priest to tales of intoxication, a boy consumed by puppy love, and a Christmas party inflected with awkward moments. As a series, they form a complex and varied fictional landscape of the Irish capital.
Israel
A comedian is ‘dying’ on stage in front of an audience that don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Among them is a man who hasn’t seen the comedian for years, wondering why he has been asked to attend that particular evening. This novel, originally published in Hebrew, scooped the International Booker Prize for its English translation in 2017, and was described by The Times as a “short, shocking masterpiece” – a helpful endorsement for our selection from Israel. Both tragic and hilarious, this character-driven novel has wit and edge aplenty.
Italy
Italian polymath Umberto Eco found huge critical and commercial success with The Name of the Rose , a Sherlock Holmes-inspired murder mystery set in a 14th-century abbey where a growing number of monks are found dead in mysterious circumstances. More than just a classic whodunnit, Eco’s debut novel is genre-bending and complex, a story within a story that presents a philosophical interrogation of truth and finds inherent value in the act of interpretation. (It was also adapted into a movie of the same name in 1986, for anyone interested in seeing James Bond star Sean Connery play a Franciscan friar.)
Latvia
Born in Riga in 1909 – then a city of the Russian Empire, today the capital of Latvia – before moving to the UK in 1921, Isaiah Berlin is about as accomplished as international writers come. A member of the Order of Merit, a fellow of the British Academy, and a commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, he’s hands down (technically, of course) Latvia’s most recognised and esteemed writer (and philosopher, historian, and social and political theorist). This collection – The Proper Study of Mankind , collated in 1997 – is a perfect primer on this leading thinker of the 20th Century, touching on the pressing subjects of his time: romanticism, historicism, fascism, relativism, irrationalism and nationalism.
Lithuania
Ruta Sepetys’ debut novel follows 15-year-old Lina, who, along with her mother and younger brother, is taken from her home in Lithuania by Soviet guards and sent in a cattle car to Siberia. While on her harrowing journey, Lina doesn’t know if she will ever see her father, her first love or, indeed, her country ever again. Sepetys’ own mother was a Lithuanian refugee, and this haunting story of one of the darkest periods in the country’s history was influenced by first-hand family accounts and memories from survivors.
Malta
One of the world’s smallest countries by landmass, and with only half a million citizens, Malta has punched above its weight at Eurovision, coming in second place in both 2002 and 2005. With Clare Azzopardi, it’s now doing the same in literature. In The Lives and Deaths of K. Penza , only available in translation since 2022, Azzopardi turns the detective novel inside out: upon the death of her father, protagonist Amanda visits the mother who abandoned her when she was a child, only to find herself desperately unravelling the related mystery of the decades-ago death of her mother’s twin sister Cathy – AKA Catherine, Kitty, or K. Penza, a detective fiction author killed by a bomb in the 1980s. Talk about meta!
Moldova
There aren't many books from Moldova that have been translated into English, but fortunately this satirical tragicomedy by Vladimir Lorchenkov is one of them. In a series of vignette-like chapters, The Good Life Elsewhere follows residents of the small Moldovan village of Larga as they make their way (by any means) to Italy in search of a better, more prosperous life. Expect larger-than-life characters, drunken brawls, and a humorous portrait of post-Soviet Europe.
The Netherlands
One of the world’s most esteemed – and lucrative – literary prizes is the International Dublin Literary Award, which garners the winner a whopping €100,000. In 2006, that winner was Dutch author and gardener Gerbrand Bakker, whose novel Boven is het stil – or The Twin in English – impressed judges with its themes of isolation and the mutability of free will. The novel follows dairy farmer Helmer who, when his twin brother died suddenly 30 years ago, was forced to take over his father’s farm – despite Helmer knowing that it was his brother, always the favourite, who was supposed to be the one to inherit it. Now, with his father dying, Helmer is faced with the past, as well as the greater looming question of his future.
Norway
Nordic crime king Jo Nesbo hardly needs an introduction, and The Snowman – 7th in the Detective Harry Hole series, and reimagined in a star-studded film – cemented him as a master of the genre. In this instalment of the series, Hole happens upon one of Oslo’s earliest serial killers, whose calling card is a snowman built at the scene of each murder. Incredibly sinister and gripping, The Snowman will have you turning the pages long into the night, and praying we don’t see snow any time soon.
Poland
Isaac Bashevis Singer's fable-esque novel is about a man wracked with desire and indecision, and an exploration of a life spent on the road – a life that continues to go wrong because of the decisions he has made. You might not warm to Yasha, the book’s protagonist, but with writing as good as Singer’s, who needs likeable characters? The Polish-born author was famous for his stories that questioned personal morality and was eventually awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, cementing him as a leading figure in the Yiddish literary movement.
Portugal
When a growing number of people begin to lose their vision due to a mysterious epidemic of "white blindness," society as they know it collapses — and with it, all semblance of morality, dignity and a social contract. Warring gangs, military policing, road accidents and gruesome power struggles become the new norm as a whole city descends into anarchy. With his unique style of writing and world-building, Nobel Prize-winner José Saramago created a dystopia like no other in Blindness (and its 2004 sequel Seeing
Romania
Set against the backdrop of Bucharest under communism, Mircea Cartarescu’s Nostalgia is one of the more unique books on this list: it comprises five short stories that mix history, autobiography and magical realism. In one, a man plays an impossible game of Russian roulette; another features a child messiah; one of the more surreal stories follows a man who becomes obsessed with his car horn. If we were to describe the overall tone, it would be that of a fairytale and nightmare blended into one – definitely one for fans of The Brothers Grimm and Franz Kafka .
San Marino
There are few English-translated books by authors hailing from this micro-state of around 33,000 people, and fewer still that are widely available to read. (In fact, San Marino has stumped many an ambitious reader looking to cross off a book from every country from their list.) In lieu of a published book, we thought we'd share this free short story by Sammarinese author and musician Roberto Monti. He, I Say, He is the inner monologue of a musician who's fallen on hard times, with a flowing stream of consciousness that delves in and out of notable moments from his childhood, many of them featuring brief references to a certain famous masked vigilante.
Serbia
Not to be confused with several history books of the same name, Belgrade-born writer Vesna Goldsworthy's Iron Curtain is a love story with edge that transcends the Cold War-era divisions of East and West. When Milena, a young woman from an élite family in an anonymous Eastern Bloc country, meets visiting British poet Jason, they begin a whirlwind romance that sees her follow him back to the UK, where an inevitable clash of cultures puts her worldview and ideals to the test.
Slovenia
Think philosophy isn’t for you? Think again. In this accessible and slim volume, Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek examines the concept of “event” – an umbrella term that encompasses everything from radical political revolution to the sensation of falling in love. Žižek covers these different definitions, while also raising thought-provoking questions that will make you see the world in a new light. Drawing on Plato, Buddhism, the Big Bang and arthouse cinema, this is philosophical writing at its most exciting and relevant.
Spain
In 1977, three men broke into Javier de Ybarra y Bergé’s home in Spain and held him at gunpoint while he was in the shower. The former mayor of Bilbao was kidnapped by the group of Basque separatists and later murdered. His granddaughter, Gabriela Ybarra, first heard this story when she was eight years old, but it was only in adulthood that she decided to investigate what really happened – and why. The result of her investigation is The Dinner Guest , a fictionalised autobiography based on her family’s history, that reads like a pacy, true-crime documentary.
Sweden
Nordic noir has become one of Scandinavia’s biggest (and arguably best) exports in recent years, and Henning Mankell is a giant in the genre. In Faceless Killers , he introduces detective Kurt Wallander, who must put his complicated personal life to one side to focus on solving a double murder: the seemingly senseless killing of an elderly couple at their farm. The only clue is that the female victim said the word “foreigner” moments before she died. When this is leaked to the press, it stokes the fire of xenophobia in Sweden and sets off a chain of disturbing events.
Switzerland
Heidi , Johanna Spyri's children's tale of a young orphan living with her grandfather in a small Alpine village, is practically synonymous with Swiss literature and culture in the English-speaking world. In this particular edition, part of Penguin's Sisterhood series celebrating female authors, enjoy the original unabridged version accompanied by delightful illustrations, plus a foreword penned by feminist advocate Scarlett Curtis.
Ukraine
Tragicomic novel Death and the Penguin is Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov at his satirical best, making it our book of choice for the winning country of last year's Eurovision. When Viktor, an aspiring novelist, secures a writing gig composing advance obituaries for a newspaper and one of his subjects (finally) dies, he finds himself and his penguin companion Misha fleeing the clutches of the mafia, and a darkly comic caper ensues. For those who want to follow Viktor's (mis)adventures further, check out the delightfully fun sequel Penguin Lost .
The United Kingdom
We would be remiss not to honour Liverpool, this year's host city, in our UK delegation for Eurovision reads. Featuring the work of poets Roger McGough, Brian Patten and Adrian Henri, The Mersey Sound challenged preconceived notions about what poetry could be – and who it was for – when it was first published in 1967. It's since gone down in history as one of the bestselling anthologies of all time, and captures the dynamism, social politics and groundbreaking pop cultural landscape of a Britain in flux.
