Intimacies

 Intimacies is a novel written by Katie Kitamura. The story is about a woman who lived in New York to take care of her father until he died. Then her mother moved to Shanghai so she decided to leave New York and move to The Hague. She found work as an interpreter for the International Court of Justice which is the principal court for the United Nations. She quickly makes friends with Jana who runs an art gallery. She is chosen to interpret at a trial of an African leader who committed atrocious war crimes. Repeating the details of the horrible deaths and torture gets to her emotionally and she struggles to keep her voice professional. She meets a man named Adriaan at a party. They date and become lovers. Her job appointment was for one year. At the end of the year she is asked to take a permanent position at the court. She isn't sure she wants to stay. I thought the book was fascinating because when I went to the Netherlands we went to The Hague. We didn't visit the court but we did visit the museum and the town. So as I read about this woman taking the train and walking the streets I could imagine what that looked like. The day I was there snow fell at an angle because of the wind. I don't think I would do well as an interpreter in a court room but I enjoyed reading about it.