World Literature Today’s Notable Translation of 2024

Winner of the 2017 European Union Prize for Literature for readers of Min Jin Lee and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

When young Minnie is orphaned, the Campanis family decides to take her in. Ex-hippie Susan and her husband Basil, a second-generation Greek American, along with their daughter Leto react to Minnie’s arrival in ways that make old family scars flare up again. Set in crisis-ridden 1980s Camden, New Jersey, among a community of immigrants trying and failing to realize the American dream, Dendrites is a poetical elegy to dignity and courage. In this sensitively told story about the quest for a meaningful life amid the ruins of lost second chances, Kallia Papadaki, one of Greek literature’s most brilliant voices, delivers an unforgettable novel about the power of hope and compassion in the face of adversity.