My Dreadful Body
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NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE LONGLIST
CERCADOR PRIZE FINALIST—FOREWORD REVIEWS BEST 10 BOOKS OF 2026
"Gripping, vivid . . . plainspoken and elegiac. I've never read anything like it."—Claire Oshetsky, author of Poor Deer and Evil Genius
A dazzling debut novel about a young woman's vexed coming of age in a traditional Azerbaijani community in Russia, grappling under the weight of Muslim patriarchal norms and a debilitating neurological condition. The mysterious affliction leaves her unable to control her muscles, plagued by pain and speech disorders, defying diagnosis. Addressing each body part with the scrupulousness of a medical researcher, the narrator explores memories, traditions, and taboos related to her physical self. In the process, a woman once destined for the role of a beautiful marriageable daughter comes to be perceived as damaged goods. With verbal elegance and poetic power, Egana Djabbarova unveils a hidden world in which illness unexpectedly facilitates her liberation.
Reading group guide to My Dreadful Body is available for download free of charge at newvesselpress.com.
Lisa C. Hayden
Translated by
Lisa C. Hayden’s translations from the Russian include Eugene Vodolazkin’s Solovyov and Larionov, The Aviator, and Laurus, which won the Read Russia Award in 2016 and was also shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize along with her translation of Vadim Levental’s Masha Regina. Her blog, Lizok’s Bookshelf, examines contemporary Russian fiction. She lives in Maine.
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