An irresistible, razor-sharp memoir about a literary translator’s many selves—wife, mother, global citizen—and the strange convergences of life, language, and craft

As a literary translator, Lara Vergnaud opens doors to transformative worlds: patients grapple with mysterious illnesses, butchers go mad, mothers grieve for lost children. As she translates each work—patiently, obsessively—her own life continues apace with the complexities of such stories: a string of dizzy spells sends her to the hospital; she struggles with infertility; marital strains accumulate; a multicultural upbringing fosters a sense of unbelonging.

Over time, Vergnaud finds her personal journeys are a mirror for her craft. As a translator, she is to remain invisible, but sometimes that invisibility extends to the home front, too; she balances languages and cultures, but also selves, states, and epiphanies. Just as Vergnaud searches for the right words to transcend language itself, she seeks solutions to ordinary hardships with novelistic twists, all while pondering her place—and responsibility—in this world.

Searing and quick-witted, Untranslatable traces the boundaries of language, labor, and love. With unflinching candor and shocks of humor, Lara Vergnaud braids a mesmerizing tapestry of life as an artist between worlds.