Join us for an exciting evening to discuss translated literature. Whether you're a fan of literary fiction or just looking to try something new, this book club hopes to achieve just that. In March, we will be looking at Gaëlle Bélem's The Rarest Fruit, translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert. 

Date:

Thursday 26th of March

Venue:
Max Minerva's, 47 Henleaze Road, BS9 4JU

Time:
Doors at 18:30. Discussion at 18:45. Finish at 19:45.

Tickets:
Attendance for the book club is free, but if you could register your place through the website, it helps us to gauge numbers. 

If you would like to buy a copy of the book, you can order it through us and show up on the night. 

ABOUT The Rarest Fruit

1829. Sainte-Suzanne, Bourbon Island. A Black orphan, a slave of only seven weeks, is placed – as if by fate – into the arms of Ferreol Beaumont, a botanist with a passion for orchids. He raises this child, Edmond, teaching him all he knows of the lush plants that populate his tropical garden.

At twelve years old, the illiterate young prodigy unlocks the secret to hand-pollinating the vanilla orchid, revolutionizing not only the island’s economy but French patisserie, perfumes & more. While his discovery brings prosperity to others, the exhilarating aroma of the vanilla flower soon dissipates for Edmond as a bitter reality stretches out before him – his brilliance unrecognized, his name forgotten.

A caustic look at the nineteenth-century history of Reunion Island under French colonial rule. For lovers of history, botany and vanilla ice cream.

Winner of Prix du Roman Métis Etudiants (2024)

ABOUT BULLAUN PRESS

Founded in 2021, Bullaun Press is Ireland's first independent publishing house dedicated to literature in translation into English. They won the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses in 2025.

https://bullaunpress.com/