The beginning of this year shows a good promise in mesmerising debut novels. All of these six novels are about to come out, and they are already making a buzz in the literary world. The novels vary in the landscapes they paint. From the three generations of a Southern Black family to a couple's impulsive marriage to a study of fixation, performance, and the exquisite agony of anonymity, they offer bold new worlds.
Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso (Hogarth)
The eagerly awaited debut novel from "one of the most original and exciting writers working in English today" remarked Jhumpa Lahiri. This is a masterwork on growing up in--and out of--the suffocating constraints of small-town America
Forged in this frigid landscape, the protagonist Ruthie has been dogged by feelings of inadequacy her whole life. Hers is no picturesque New England childhood but one of swap meets and factory seconds and powdered milk. Shame blankets her like the thick snow that regularly buries nearly everything in Waitsfield.
This is one of “the most anticipated books of 2022,” says Oprah Daily, Good Housekeeping, The Week, The Millions, She Reads, Lit Hub.
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors (Bloomsbury Publishing)
For readers of Modern Lovers and Conversations with Friends, an addictive, humorous, and poignant debut novel about the shock waves caused by one couple's impulsive marriage.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (Ballantine Books)
In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past--a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake. It asks the question We can't choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
Other People's Clothes by Calla Henkel (Doubleday)
A propulsive debut with a wicked sense of humor in which two American ex-pats obsessed with the Amanda Knox trial find themselves at the nexus of murder and celebrity in glittering late-aughts Berlin.
A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch (Dutton)
A wry and bold debut novel, which is at once an irresistible catastrophe waiting to happen and an unflinching exploration of how we narrate the stories of our lives, as an aspiring novelist finds herself stalking--and writing about--her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend. "This book is a ride. An unruly study of fixation, performance, and the exquisite agony of anonymity," says Raven Leilani, New York Times bestselling author of Luster.
Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow (The Dial Press)
A spellbinding debut novel tracing three generations of a Southern Black family and one daughter's discovery that she has the power to change her family's legacy.
