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The Extinction of Irena Rey

by Jennifer Croft

Translation, disappearance, and secrets in the forest

Critically Recognized
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Awards & Recognition

  • Editorial selection

    A Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year

    Named a best book of the year.

  • Critical praise

    Praised by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah as “brilliant, fun, and absolutely alive”

    Praised as brilliant, fun, and absolutely alive, and as a work that could only be written by a master of language.

AlbakiReads Editorial

Translation, disappearance, and secrets in the forest

Eight translators arrive at the forest home of celebrated author Irena Rey to work on her major book. When she vanishes soon after, their collaborative assignment becomes a search shaped by the surrounding wilderness, the clues in her writings and belongings, and tensions within the group. The novel brings translation and literary interpretation into a mystery framework, with the translators’ own rivalries and desires entangled in the question of what happened to Rey. Its setting—an ancient forest of unusual plants, animals, and fungi—places the group’s close-reading work alongside an increasingly uncertain search for their author.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in mysteries built around a disappearance and a group investigation.
  • Readers curious about translation, literary interpretation, and the relationships among translators.
  • Readers who enjoy fiction set in an unusual wilderness environment.

Themes

Translation and interpretationLiterary collaborationDisappearance and investigationRivalry and desireWilderness

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BYWALL STREET JOURNAL, ELLE, TOWN & COUNTRY, ELECTRIC LITERATURE, LIBRARY JOURNAL, CRIMEREADS, DOCUMENT JOURNAL, AND WORDS WITHOUT BORDERS * NAMED A MUST READ BY NPR, PEOPLE, VANITY FAIR, NYLON, ALTA JOURNAL, AND DEBUTIFUL

International Booker Prize-winning translator and Women's Prize finalist Jennifer Croft's madly brilliant mystery novel of transformation and translation in Europe's last great wilderness.

"Savvy, sly, and hard to classify. A bacchanal." -New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
"Fiercely inventive." -Washington Post
"Knives Out on mushrooms." -Elle
"Could only be written by master of language, a tamer of different tongues. It is brilliant, fun, and absolutely alive." -Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Eight translators gather in the primeval forest home of the world-renowned Irena Rey. They are there to translate her magnum opus together, but within days of their arrival, Irena disappears.

The translators embark on a frantic search, delving into ancient woods filled with strange flora, fauna, and fungi and examining her enigmatic texts and belongings for clues. But doing so reveals secrets they are utterly unprepared for, and they quickly find themselves tangled up in a web of rivalries and desires that threaten not only their work, but the fate of their beloved author herself.

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Customer reviews

M
AlbakiReads
Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

T
AlbakiReads
Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

O
AlbakiReads
Olivia

Smooth.