在很多国内外文学和影视作品里，我们总能看到这样一群女性，她们坚强、自立，有才情，有勇气。她们的人生经历各异，却都千姿百态。本期推荐的四个故事，分别来自四位不同国度、不同肤色的女性作家，围绕着几代不同人生的女性们展开。

Part 1  安妮·埃尔诺（Annie Ernaux）

French writer Annie Ernaux, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature, has been known by Chinese readers through her acclaimed novel The Years, as the People’s Literature Publishing House published the first edition in 2010. And this novel has won “best foreign novel of the year in 21st century”. In another notable work A Woman’s Story, Ernaux profoundly depicts love and entanglement between her and her mother.

2022年诺贝尔文学奖花落法国当代作家安妮·埃尔诺。她的代表作《悠悠岁月》2010年由人民文学出版社首次出版并获得“21世纪年度最佳外国小说”，许多中国读者也正是从这部作品开始认识这位个人风格浓郁的法国女作家。而《一个女人的故事》里，安妮·埃尔诺更是将自己与母亲的情感羁绊与内心的矛盾描绘得淋漓尽致。

正如瑞典文学院颁奖词一样：安妮·埃尔诺以勇敢、冷静而敏锐的洞察力揭开了个人记忆的根源、隔阂和集体束缚。

A Woman’s Story

《一个女人的故事》

It is a deeply affecting story of mothers and daughters, youth and age, and dreams and reality.

Upon her mother’s death from Alzheimer’s, Ernaux embarks on a daunting journey back through time, as she seeks to "capture the real woman, the one who existed independently from me, born on the outskirts of a small Normandy town, and who died in the geriatric ward of a hospital in the suburbs of Paris."

She explores the bond between mother and daughter, tenuous and unshakable at once. In this quietly powerful work, Ernaux attempts to do her mother the greatest justice she can. She writes, "I believe I am writing about my mother because it is my turn to bring her into the world."

“我既确信她是非常爱我的，又意识到一种不公平：她每天从早到晚卖土豆和牛奶，就是为了让我能够坐在阶梯教室里听老师讲柏拉图。”

这是一个关于母亲和女儿、青春和岁月、梦想和现实的深刻动人的故事。在母亲死于阿尔茨海默症后，作者开始了时光倒流之旅。她试图捕捉真正的女人，那个独立于女儿而存在的女人，那个出生在诺曼底小镇、死在巴黎郊区医院的老年病房里的女人。

文中探讨了母亲和女儿之间既脆弱又不可动摇的纽带，字里行间又充满着强烈的矛盾和撕裂感。在这部平静而有力的作品中，埃尔诺想要为她的母亲争取最大的公平。正如作者所说：“现在我写我的母亲，就像该轮到我重新让母亲出生。”

Part 2  伯娜丁·埃瓦里斯托（Bernardine Evaristo）

Bernardine Evaristo is the winner of the 2019 Booker Prize and the first black woman to receive this highest literary honor in the English language. Her acclaimed work Girl, Woman, Other is a moving and hopeful story featuring different characters of a group of black British women that paints a vivid portrait of the state of contemporary Britain. 

“An impressive, fierce novel about the lives of black British families, their struggles, pains, laughter, longings and loves . . . Her style is passionate, razor-sharp, brimming with energy and humor.”—Booker Prize Judges

英国作家伯娜丁·埃瓦里斯托是2019年布克奖的获得者，也是首位获得这项英语文学最高荣誉的黑人女性。其代表作《女孩，女人，其他》气势磅礴地描绘了一幅英国当代社会黑人女性的群像，用生动的笔触讲述了她们的人生故事。

正如布克奖评委对这部作品的评价：这部惊世骇俗的作品，描绘了英国黑人女性的挣扎、痛苦、欢笑、渴望和爱，文笔锋利，妙语连珠。

Girl, Woman, Other

《女孩，女人，其他》

The 12 central characters of this multi-voiced novel lead vastly different lives: a newly acclaimed playwright, a teacher jaded after decades of work in London's funding-deprived schools, a successful investment banker…… From a nonbinary social media influencer to a 93-year-old woman living on a farm in Northern England, these 12 unforgettable characters also intersect in shared aspects of their identities, from age to race to sexuality to class.

Girl, Woman, Other is a polyphonic and richly textured social novel that shows a side of Britain we rarely see, one that reminds us of all that connects us to our neighbors, even in times when we are encouraged to be split apart.

小说以多声部的方式，叙述了十二位生活在不同时代，有着不同肤色、性格和职业的英国黑人女性迥然不同的冒险人生。从前卫先锋的剧作家、严肃保守的教师，到成功的银行家；从社交网红再到耄耋老人，她们的言论字字珠玑，几代女性的情感交织在一起，千姿百态，读罢令人难忘。

本书是一部才华横溢，锋芒毕露的现实主义杰作。它从独特的角度向我们展示了英国社会的横截面，让我们看到几代英国黑人女性情感交织的故事。

Part 3  路易莎·梅·奥尔科特（Louisa May Alcott）

Louisa May Alcott（1832-1888）, American author widely known for children books, her most famous novel Little Women, based on her recollections of her own childhood, became one of the most classic literary works. Alcott created many educated strong female heroines in her lifetime and her books remain steadfastly popular among young readers especially female readers. 

奥尔科特是美国19世纪著名作家，以写儿童读物闻名。她的《小妇人》被认为是最经典的女性小说之一。她以自家四姐妹为原型创作的这部作品受到了无数读者的喜爱，成为美国经典文学之作。奥尔科特一生创作了许多女性人物，她们都坚强、独立，有教养。其作品深受一代又一代读者，尤其是女性读者的热爱。

Little Women

《小妇人》

The novel follows the lives of four sisters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March, detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood during American Civil War. Although the family has fallen on hard times, life for the four March sisters is rich with color. The novel is explored through the sisters' relationships with their family, in particular their beloved Marmee, their friends, and their neighbors.

故事讲述美国南北战争期间，马奇家四姐妹梅格、乔、贝丝和艾米在困境与战火中一起成长的故事。她们跟随最爱的母亲历经风雨，一起等待父亲从战场归来。在清贫而充实的生活中，她们克服重重困扰，沉着向前。小说着重描写了她们对家庭的眷恋；对爱的忠诚以及对亲情的渴望。故事情节简单真实，感人至深。

Part 4  詹妮弗（Jennifer Robson）

 Based on true events in October, 1947 in London, Jennifer Robson introduces readers three unforgettable heroines and depicts "a vivid portrait of female self-reliance in a world racked by the cost of war."

The Gown is an enthralling historical novel about one of the most famous wedding dresses of the twentieth century-Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown and the fascinating women who made it.

这是一个引人入胜的历史小说，故事讲述了二十世纪伊丽莎白女王的婚纱和几位制作这件婚纱的女性的故事。作者Jennifer Robson根据1947年英国真实历史事件，生动描写了三位饱经战乱的女性如何自立自强，笑对人生。

The Gown

《礼服：一本关于皇室婚礼的小说》

The story begins in London, 1947. Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation. Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, two embroiderers. Both women, despite war traumas, are determined to survive on their own. When Hartnell is asked to provide gowns for the royal wedding, Miriam and Ann become the principal embroiders.

The story fast-forwards to 2016, when Ann dies in Toronto. Her granddaughter, Heather Mackenzie, inherits a box with a note and a piece of embroidered cloth. She is mystified how her grandmother whom she never saw embroider could possess such a valuable item. She journeys to England to learn Ann’s hidden secrets, the mystery behind the dresses, and her friendship with Dassin. 

1947年，伦敦。战后的英国人受记忆中严酷的冬天的围困，不堪重负地忍受着悄无声息的绝望生活，其中就包括Ann Hughes 和 Miriam Dassin。她们是一家高级时装店的刺绣工，二人在艰难时世里建立了牢固的友谊。就在她们刚刚对未来产生希望之时 遭遇了一场特殊的考验。她们被选中参与一项艰巨的任务：参与制作伊丽莎白公主的婚纱。

2016年，多伦多。半个多世纪后，Ann的孙女在整理祖母遗物时发现一套精美的刺绣。她亲爱的奶奶从未提起过她过去在英国的生活，如何会拥有这套无价的刺绣品（和近七十年前伊丽莎白女王二世在婚礼上穿的礼服上的图案如此相似）。她奶奶与大屠杀的幸存者Miriam Dassin又有什么关系？岁月流转半个多世纪，斯人已去，礼服背后的故事被慢慢揭开。