5 Books Published by Two Lines Press on AALBC — Book Cover Collage

In Suriname, off the northeastern coast of South America, Grandma Bee has many children who have given her many more grandchildren. They are all a mix of Creole, Maroon, white, Indian, Chinese, Javanese, indigenous, and Jewish backgrounds. Some of her descendants have cut off all contact, died, or been institutionalized for insanity; and now one of her favorite granddaughters, Heli, has been sent away to the Netherlands, banished because of an affair with her white, married teacher.

And Grandma Bee is also dying, the cough settled deep in her lungs. The approaching end and the loss of Heli lead her to unearth old secrets and trace the thinning strands of the connections between her family members, even those who have done long-unspoken horrors to each other. And ultimately, there’s only one question Bee must answer: What is a family? If the people are spread across the world, don’t know each other, don’t share a heritage, and don’t even look similar, what bond will be left once Grandma Bee has died?

A moving portrait of a woman finding peace in the legacy that is her daughters and granddaughters, Off-White, by National Book Award longlisted Astrid Roemer, brilliantly translated by Lucy Scott and David McKay, is also a searing and complex portrait of male violence, the legacy of colonialism, and a probing dismantling of what it means to be ""White"". Written over a nearly 20-year break from publishing, Off-White is another masterpiece from the only Surinamese author to ever win the Dutch Literature Award, the most prestigious award given to a writer of Dutch.

FINALIST FOR THE 2023 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

On a Woman’s Madness tells the story of Noenka, a courageous Black woman trying to live a life of her own choosing. When her abusive husband of just nine days refuses her request for divorce, Noenka flees her hometown in Suriname, on South America’s tropical northeastern coast, for the capital city of Paramaribo. Unsettled and unsupported, her life in this new place is illuminated by romance and new freedoms, but also forever haunted by her past and society’s expectations.

Strikingly translated by Lucy Scott, Astrid Roemer’s classic queer novel is a tentpole of European and post-colonial literature. And amid tales of plantation-dwelling snakes, rare orchids, and star-crossed lovers, it is also a blistering meditation on the cruelties we inflict on those who disobey. Roemer, the first Surinamese winner of the prestigious Dutch Literature Prize, carves out postcolonial Suriname in barbed, resonant fragments. Who is Noenka? Roemer asks us. ""I’m Noenka,"" she responds resolutely, ""which means Never Again.""

Welcome back to Evergreen,
the town built on Christmas wishes…

And learn what happens
after one snow-globe wish comes true.

Life is going great for Hannah, really. She’s fallen in love with her best friend, her brother is getting married, and she’s looking forward to another festive Christmas in Evergreen. Still, between her job, taking charge of the choir, and being the town’s jill-of-all-trades, she’s feeling uninspired…especially when Elliot starts to question his own role in the town.

Hannah finds fresh inspiration in the brand-new Evergreen Christmas Museum, and she volunteers for their storytelling project. When she interviews her fellow Evergreenians, however, she learns that not everyone wants the museum around; specifically Mr. Cooper who owns a third of the building. As Hannah finds herself with more and more responsibilities, and as her relationships with Elliot and her family grow strained, she starts to wonder about what she really wants. Can her love and newly-found purpose survive the changes that loom after the holidays are over?

As an architect, she designs beautiful buildings…But will her heart ever find a place to call home?

Taylor’s architectural firm enters her in a contest to build life-sized gingerbread houses. After the contest, she’s likely to get a promotion to a position in another city. But it’s a team competition, and Taylor’s temperamental partner soon backs out. Taylor needs a replacement—fast.

When she meets Adam, a baker and single dad, she convinces him to be her partner in the contest. After all, winning would give his bakery much-needed exposure.

For years, Taylor has avoided thinking of anywhere as “home.” When she was a kid, her family was always on the move. But the time she spends with Adam and his daughter Brooke, decorating for Christmas and enjoying Philadelphia’s holiday traditions, has her questioning everything. Could she have found a place to call her own?

This book includes an original recipe for Best-Ever Gingerbread.

In the newest book in the groundbreaking Two Lines: World Writing in Translation series, a grandmother returns from the dead without bothering with an explanation, a rooster reflects on his long marriage to a chicken, and a loving son helps his father with his bra.

With these stories, and dozens more rollicking poems and fiction pieces, Passageways presents a full range of fresh international literature never before seen in America. It includes international powerhouses such as Quim Monzo, Elvira Navarro, Yves Bonnefoy, and Naja Marie Aidt. To highlight the work of the translators who bring this work into English, Passageways includes short introductory essays from Lydia Davis, Peter Bush, Forest Gander, Valzhyna Mort, and Margaret Jull Costa.

Passageways concludes with a special set of a dozen new poems and stories from Brazil. These diverse, inspiring works highlight the breadth of breathtaking writing coming out of the South American giant’s literary scene.