{{Short description|2021 novel by Katie Kitamura}} {{Distinguish|Intimacy}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox book | name = Intimacies | image = Intimacies.jpg | author = Katie Kitamura | isbn = 978-0-39957-616-4 | pages = 240 | language = English | pub_date = {{Start date|2021|07|20}} | publisher = Riverhead Books }}
'''''Intimacies''''' is the fourth novel by Katie Kitamura, published on July 20, 2021.
== Plot == An unnamed woman leaves New York City, where her father recently died, and moves to The Hague, Netherlands to work as an interpreter at the International Criminal Court. The woman is assigned to interpret for the former president of a West African country on trial for war crimes.
== Creation == Kitamura attended the International Criminal Court trial of Laurent Gbagbo, a fictionalized account of which appears in ''Intimacies''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Young|first=Molly|date=July 12, 2021|title=Katie Kitamura's hypnotic new novel asks, What happens when your main character is a passive witness to her own life?|work=Vulture|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/katie-kitamura-intimacies-profile.html|access-date=July 15, 2021|archive-date=July 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713142458/https://www.vulture.com/article/katie-kitamura-intimacies-profile.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The publishing rights were acquired by Jonathan Cape in February 2021.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cowdrey|first=Katherine|date=February 9, 2021|title=Kitamura's Intimacies to Jonathan Cape|work=The Bookseller|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/kitamura-s-intimacies-jonathan-cape-1236191|access-date=July 15, 2021|archive-date=February 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209110011/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/kitamura-s-intimacies-jonathan-cape-1236191|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Reception == ''Intimacies'' featured on a list of book recommendations by Barack Obama for the summer of 2021.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bayley|first=Sian|date=July 12, 2021|title=Obama shares summer reading list featuring Diop and Ishiguro|work=The Bookseller|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/obama-shares-summer-reading-recommendations-1268911|access-date=July 15, 2021|archive-date=July 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712105823/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/obama-shares-summer-reading-recommendations-1268911|url-status=live}}</ref> Dwight Garner described the book as "a taut, moody novel that moves purposefully between worlds" in his review for ''The New York Times''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Garner|first=Dwight|author-link=Dwight Garner|date=July 14, 2021|title='Intimacies,' a Coolly Written Novel About the Arts of Translation and Power|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/books/review-intimacies-katie-kitamura.html|access-date=July 15, 2021|issn=1553-8095|oclc=1645522|archive-date=July 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715011552/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/books/review-intimacies-katie-kitamura.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ron Charles reviewed the book for the ''Washington Post''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Charles|first=Ron|author-link=Ron Charles (critic)|date=July 13, 2021|title=Barack Obama's summer reading pick 'Intimacies' is an unsettling novel about moral dilemmas|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/katie-kitamura-intimacies-book-review/2021/07/13/1fcf2b46-e37e-11eb-8aa5-5662858b696e_story.html|access-date=July 15, 2021|archive-date=July 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715073908/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/katie-kitamura-intimacies-book-review/2021/07/13/1fcf2b46-e37e-11eb-8aa5-5662858b696e_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Brandon Yu compared the work favourably to Kitamura's third novel ''A Separation.''<ref>{{Cite news|last=Yu|first=Brandon|date=July 11, 2021|title=Katie Kitamura and the Cognitive Dissonance of Being Alive Right Now|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/11/books/katie-kitamura-intimacies.html|access-date=July 15, 2021|issn=1553-8095|oclc=1645522|archive-date=July 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715070044/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/11/books/katie-kitamura-intimacies.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, ''Intimacies'' was longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction.<ref name=newyorker20201>{{cite magazine| title=The 2021 National Book Awards Longlist: Fiction| url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-2021-national-book-awards-longlist-fiction|magazine=The New Yorker|date=2021-09-17}}</ref> It was selected for the ''New York Times Book Review''{{'}}s "10 Best Books of 2021" list.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 30, 2021 |title=The 10 Best Books of 2021 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/books/review/best-books-2021.html |access-date=December 18, 2021}}</ref> The novel won the 2023 Prix Litteraire Lucien Barriere.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Katie Kitamura remporte le prix Lucien Barrière 2023|url=https://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/katie-kitamura-remporte-le-prix-lucien-barriere-2023 |website=livreshebdo.fr}} Retrieved May 22, 2026.</ref> It was a finalist for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and the Grand Prix de l’Heroine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Katie Kitamura |url=https://brooklynbookfestival.org/authors/katie-kitamura/ |website=Brooklyn Book Festival}} Retrieved May 22, 2026.</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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Category:2021 American novels Category:2021 English-language novels Category:Jonathan Cape books Category:Novels set in the Netherlands Category:Fiction about interpreting and translation
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