A Foreign Affair - a passionate life in four languages by Valerie Barnes: book review

A Foreign Affair (2012) is a true tale of a young translator’s work in the United Nations and her travels abroad. Based in Geneva in the 1950s, women translators were a rarity. Barnes was fluent in four languages: English, Russian, Italian and Spanish, and much in demand as a simultaneous interpreter.

There are two threads throughout the novel: the autobiographical world of international language translating in the newly-formed United Nations from 1948; and a portrait of a failing marriage. At 20, Valerie, an Englishwoman, marries Gerard, a French research engineer and a domineering, unfaithful man who openly displayed his mistresses to 'naïve' wife. Valerie begins an affair with Janek, a Polish engineer, who travels frequently to Geneva.

Much of the book concentrates on the gradual erosion of her marriage and how her work, affair, and three children provide the solace to keep going. Her work liberated Valerie professionally, and Janek liberated her sexually. Amid this is a travelogue of conferences from Belgrade to Madagascar and insights into the leading politicians and humanitarians of the times.

The stress of simultaneous interpreting is compared to that of air traffic controllers – where every word can lead to nation’s leaders agreeing or conflicting with the current speaker. Some comical pitfalls are mentioned, such as proverbs, figures of speech and Australian slang. How do you translate “the delegate of the UK is pussyfooting with a red herring” tactfully and correctly? After one conference, as Valerie and her colleague read the newspaper of the week’s outcomes, she asks “Did he really say ‘elephants everywhere’?” to which Ina replies “I think he said ‘of relevance everywhere’”.

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