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In Other Words
- Author
- Jhumpa Lahiri
- Narrator
- Jhumpa Lahiri
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 29 January 2026
- Run Time
- 6 hours 53 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
_______________
'A passionate love letter to language and to Italy ... a bold and quirkily engaging self-portrait' - Lee Langley, Spectator
'A writer of uncommon elegance and poise' - New York Times
'A fascinating account of her linguistic exile' - Erica Wagner, Harper’s Bazaar
_______________
In Other Words is a revelation. It is at heart a love story of a long and sometimes difficult courtship, and a passion that verges on obsession: that of a writer for another language. For Jhumpa Lahiri, that love was for Italian, which first captivated and capsized her during a trip to Florence after college. Although Lahiri studied Italian for many years afterwards, true mastery had always eluded her.
Seeking full immersion, she decided to move to Rome with her family, for ‘a trial by fire, a sort of baptism’ into a new language and world. There, she began to read and to write – initially in her journal – solely in Italian. In Other Words, an autobiographical work written in Italian, investigates the process of learning to express oneself in another language, and describes the journey of a writer seeking a new voice.
Presented in a dual-language format, this is a wholly original book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Vladimir Nabokov: a startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention.
This audiobook is read by the author in both English and the original Italian.
Critics Review
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The only book I read this year in English is The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri. I had never read anything of hers, and it was a wonderful surprise
Elena Ferrante
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Jhumpa Lahiri’s new novel is a testament to her abundant talents
Khaled Hosseini
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One of the most impressive writers in the U.S.
Daily Mail
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A writer of uncommon elegance and poise
New York Times
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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A writer of formidable powers and great depth of feeling
Observer
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Immaculately constructed and a model of lucidity, well deserving of its place on the Man Booker shortlist
Mail on Sunday
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A fascinating account of her linguistic exile
Harper’s Bazaar
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Her Italian writing is personal, inward-looking, exploring identity and alienation, anatomising the state of mind of a writer who has more than one “mother tongue” ... This is essentially a literary memoir, a passionate love letter to language and to Italy ... This is a study of transformation – of a writer, and a woman who has forever been trying to improve herself ... For anyone remotely interested in grammar, the chapter on the minefield of Italian prepositions and the past imperfect makes entertaining reading. And there’s no academic aridity; the spare, limpid prose of Lahiri’s fiction permeates a bold and quirkily engaging self-portrait
Spectator
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Details
- Author
- Jhumpa Lahiri
- Narrator
- Jhumpa Lahiri
- Duration
- 6 hours 53 minutes
- Release Date
- 29 January 2026
- ISBN
- 9781037202209
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Memoirs, Language: history and general works, Essays, Travel writing
Synopsis
Bloomsbury presents In Other Words written and read by Jhumpa Lahiri_______________'A passionate love letter to language and to Italy ... a bold and quirkily engaging self-portrait' - Lee Langley, Spectator'A writer of uncommon elegance and poise' - New York Times'A fascinating account of her linguistic exile' - Erica Wagner, Harper’s Bazaar_______________In Other Words is a revelation. It is at heart a love story of a long and sometimes difficult courtship, and a passion that verges on obsession: that of a writer for another language. For Jhumpa Lahiri, that love was for Italian, which first captivated and capsized her during a trip to Florence after college. Although Lahiri studied Italian for many years afterwards, true mastery had always eluded her.Seeking full immersion, she decided to move to Rome with her family, for ‘a trial by fire, a sort of baptism’ into a new language and world. There, she began to read and to write – initially in her journal – solely in Italian. In Other Words, an autobiographical work written in Italian, investigates the process of learning to express oneself in another language, and describes the journey of a writer seeking a new voice.Presented in a dual-language format, this is a wholly original book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Vladimir Nabokov: a startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention.This audiobook is read by the author in both English and the original Italian.
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