I’m losing my mind over the amazing crop of new novels slated for publication in 2017. The excitement over highly anticipated new novels from Paula Hawkins, Celeste Ng, and Nickolas Butler may actually induce heart palpitations. But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. While some of these books are already out, we still have months to wait before most hit bookstores. To quell your impatience, make sure you’ve read the dazzling debut novels and story collections that first introduced these writers to the world.
12 Debut Novels You Won’t Want to Miss
All the Missing Girls
A spellbinding psychological thriller told in reverse, Megan Miranda’s first novel for adult readers is about the connected disappearances of two young women ten years apart in the same small town. Miranda has an uncanny talent for suspense. THE PERFECT STRANGER, Megan Miranda’s next book, is available on April 11.
All the Missing Girls
A spellbinding psychological thriller told in reverse, Megan Miranda’s first novel for adult readers is about the connected disappearances of two young women ten years apart in the same small town. Miranda has an uncanny talent for suspense. Megan Miranda’s new novel, THE PERFECT STRANGER, is just out.
Read a review of the book Megan Miranda can’t stop recommending.
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We Are Called to Rise
A middle-aged woman tries to revive her marriage, a soldier wakes up in a hospital with no memory of how he got there, and an eight-year-old boy’s fate hangs in the balance. In WE ARE CALLED TO RISE, these three lives are bound together by a split-second mistake, and I guarantee you’ll be thinking about these characters long after you finish the book. Laura McBride’s sophomore novel ‘ROUND MIDNIGHT hits shelves May 2.
We Are Called to Rise
Far from the casinos and lights, the Las Vegas suburbs sprawl out into the desert. In this desolate boomtown, three desperate souls—a middle aged woman attempting to revive her marriage, a veteran just returned from Iraq, and a brave eight-year-old Albanian boy—must decide whether to give in to despair, or to find the courage and resilience to rise.
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The Girl on the Train
In this runaway bestseller, Rachel, an unreliable alcoholic, catches glimpses of a couple through the window as she rides the same train on her daily commute. When she sees something shocking one day, Rachel goes to the police and becomes dangerously involved with a chilling missing person’s case. There’s a reason so many people loved this thriller. Paula Hawkins’ next novel, INTO THE WATER, hits stores on May 2.
The Girl on the Train
On her daily train ride, Rachel witnesses something shocking among the stretch of cozy suburban homes she once brazenly surveyed. She involves the police and is irrevocably entangled in the mess that unfolds. An obsessive read with captivating unreliable narration, GIRL ON THE TRAIN is a stunning Hitchcockian debut.
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Shotgun Lovesongs
As four boyhood friends all raised in small-town Wisconsin reunite for a wedding, lifelong bonds are put to the test through heartbreak and healing. Nickolas Butler perfectly captures the essence of a place and the characters belonging to it. Butler’s new book, THE HEARTS OF MEN, is available in stores now.
Shotgun Lovesongs
Little Wing is a place like hundreds of others but seldom has the American heartland been so richly and accurately portrayed. For four boyhood friends brought together for a wedding, this small Wisconsin town will foster heartbreak, hope, healing, and heroism in a novel that, once read, will never be forgotten.
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The God of Small Things
THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS, which follows an affluent Indian family forever changed by a fateful day in 1969, is an extraordinary and powerful family saga, a forbidden love story, and a piercing political drama. I dare you not to fall in love with this story. After waiting for almost 20 years, we can finally find Arundhati Roy’s second novel, THE MINISTRY OF UTMOST HAPPINESS, on shelves on June 6.
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy’s debut novel has become a modern classic. Equal parts family saga, forbidden love story, and political drama, it chronicles in exquisite, atmospheric detail an affluent Indian family forever changed by one fateful day in 1969.
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Everything I Never Told You
A gripping page-turner and sensitive family portrait, EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU follows the destruction of a Chinese American family in 1970s small-town Ohio after favorite child Lydia is found dead in the local lake. LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE, Celeste Ng’s sophomore novel, will be in bookstores September 12.
Everything I Never Told You
“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this dark but exquisite novel about a Chinese-American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, but when her body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, and the family is forced to come to terms with their struggles and secrets.
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The Family Fang
Both laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly poignant, THE FAMILY FANG introduces readers to a host of delightfully dysfunctional characters whose lives are risky and mischievous performance art. Thankfully, you can already get your hands on Kevin Wilson’s new novel, PERFECT LITTLE WORLD.
The Family Fang
Owen King (We’re All in This Together) calls author Kevin Wilson, “the unholy child of George Saunders and Carson McCullers.” With his novel, The Family Fang, the Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of Tunneling to the Center of the Earth comes through in a BIG way, with a funny, poignant, laugh-and-cry-out-loud (sometimes at the same time) novel about the art of surviving a masterpiece of dysfunction. Meet The Family Fang, an unforgettable collection of demanding, brilliant, and absolutely endearing oddballs whose lives are risky and mischievous performance art. If the writing of Gary Shteyngart, Miranda July, Scarlett Thomas, and Charles Yu excites you, you’ll certainly want to invite this Family into your home.
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The Good Thief
THE GOOD THIEF is an ingenious adventure story about a 12-year-old boy with a missing hand and the young man who claims to know what happened to it. Hannah Tinti’s rich imagination is sure to enchant readers immediately. Make sure to pick up THE TWELVE LIVES OF SAMUEL HAWLEY, Hannah Tinti’s new book about a man with 12 mysterious scars, at your local bookstore.
The Good Thief
THE GOOD THIEF is an ingenious adventure story about a 12-year-old boy with a missing hand and the young man who claims to know what happened to it. Hannah Tinti’s rich imagination is sure to enchant readers immediately. Make sure to pick up THE TWELVE LIVES OF SAMUEL HAWLEY, Hannah Tinti’s new book about a man with 12 mysterious scars, at your local bookstore.
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The Sympathizer
In THE SYMPATHIZER, a communist double agent arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon. This searing exploration of identity and America was one of the most widely praised and awarded novels of 2015. Viet Thanh Nguyen’s new book, THE REFUGEES, a sharply written account of the aspirations of those who flee one country searching for safety in another, is in stores now.
The Sympathizer
Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, this profound, startling, and beautifully crafted spy novel is the story of a man whose political beliefs clash with his individual loyalties. An astute exploration of extreme politics, as well as a moving love story, THE SYMPATHIZER examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today.
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Cutting Teeth
Late one summer weekend a group of thirtysomething couples gather at a shabby beach house on Long Island where conflicts intensify and painful truths surface. Warm and unpretentious, CUTTING TEETH is about the complex dilemmas of early midlife and the all-consuming love we feel for those we need most. Keep an eye out for Julia Fierro’s second book, THE GYPSY MOTH SUMMER, on June 6.
Cutting Teeth
Late one summer weekend a group of thirtysomething couples gather at a shabby beach house on Long Island where conflicts intensify and painful truths surface. Warm and unpretentious, CUTTING TEETH is about the complex dilemmas of early midlife and the all-consuming love we feel for those we need most. Keep an eye out for Julia Fierro’s second book, THE GYPSY MOTH SUMMER, on June 6.
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California
Frida and Cal have left the crumbling city of Los Angeles for a shack in the wilderness when they realize Frida is pregnant. Terrified of the unknown and unsure of their ability to raise a child in their current situation, they seek out the nearest settlement, a guarded and paranoid community with dark secrets. Edan Lepucki’s CALIFORNIA is haunting and provocative. Her new novel, WOMAN NO. 17, should be on your shelf come May 9.
California
The sunshine state lies in darkness, Los Angeles in ruins. This gripping and provocative debut novel imagines a frighteningly realistic near future, in which clashes between mankind’s dark nature and irrepressible resilience force us to question how far we will go to protect the ones we love.
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Free Food for Millionaires
The story of a daughter of Korean immigrants who moves to Manhattan with no job and an addiction to things she cannot afford, FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES exposes the layers of a community while tackling love, race, money, and class. Min Jin Lee’s second novel, PACHINKO, a sweeping saga of another Korean family, is now in stores.
Free Food for Millionaires
The story of a daughter of Korean immigrants who moves to Manhattan with no job and an addiction to things she cannot afford, FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES exposes the layers of a community while tackling love, race, money, and class. Min Jin Lee’s second novel, PACHINKO, a sweeping saga of another Korean family, is now in stores.
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