Find the greatest new fiction books of 2024, ranging from captivating sequels to debuts by exciting new authors. "Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth," as Albert Camus famously phrased it, and in only eight sentences, he captured the enormous power of the book. The best fiction takes us on historical adventures that the curriculum never could, shows us how to fit into new shoes in a foreign city, and, occasionally, breaks and mends our hearts all in the same chapter. It offers us a window into fantastical worlds, historical periods, and even bleak futures.
Eilis Fiorello begins to question her secure and content life on Long Island for the first time in decades when a guy arrives at her door and introduces himself with a mild, familiar Irish accent. After twenty years of marriage to Tony and the construction of a home they shared with their two children, Eilis is compelled to return to her homeland of Ireland and the loved ones she left behind when a stranger shows up and makes a shocking disclosure. Long Island, the sequel to Brooklyn, the acclaimed and brilliant novel by Colm Tóibín, is a book that everyone should read in 2024.
Enslaved Jim hides on Jackson's Island to plot his escape from New Orleans, where he faces the threat of being sold to a new master and separated from his wife and child. They join forces and set out on a perilous voyage down the Mississippi River in pursuit of freedom after meeting Huck, who is escaping his violent father. One of the most underrepresented characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn finally gets a voice in JAMES, a moving and humorous novel by Percival Everett, who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Professor Penny Cartwright's mesmerizing flute performance is Zoe's first encounter with her. Zoe believes she has no chance with Penny—an older, charming, and educated woman—until Penny sends her a strange note and the two begin an affair, which quickly becomes much more. An amusing, touching, and meaningful look at the ebb and flow of love, lust, and relationships told through Charlotte Mendelson's Wife.
It seems like destiny brings Bonnie and Mansour together in 1968 when they meet in New York. Poised to write music that will alter the course of history, the two meet in the city after growing up apart from their moms and sharing an unparalleled passion for music. Along their way to fame, the duo stops in Paris, Rio, and Switzerland, among other cities, thanks to their groundbreaking new sound. After Mansour disappears one day, Bonnie, who is expecting their first child, must embark on a world tour to reunite with her soulmate.
Which of your most cherished memories would you most like to relive if you had a second chance? This delightful and wacky Japanese story depicts a world where such a very thing is possible for the dying. As they nostalgically peruse the stack of photographs resting on their laps, they will find the perfect one to display in a lovely lantern, transporting them to the most treasured day of their lives. The people who come to the Lantern have different backgrounds and experiences; some are children struggling for survival, while others are ex-Yakuza members reflecting on their past.
Look no further if you are in search of a romantic book to accompany you on your summer vacation this year. Theo and Magdalen, who were childhood friends and neighbours in a quaint Italian village, go back to their hometown for a family wedding in the upcoming film I'll Look for You, Everywhere. Are they going to be able to face the love tension between them, discover their common past, and declare their feelings for each other?
October 1679 in Edinburgh. James Forrester, Lady Christian's lover, was murdered, and she is now facing murder charges. Headlines that don't leave much space for uncertainty to smash across the broadsides, reporting on her incarceration and subsequent trial: The adulterous woman. Sexual predator. Female killer. Lady Christian had just gotten married and was living the high life a year prior. Why did she put herself in harm's way for an affair? Does it render her a murderer, then? An extraordinary tale with a feminist revisionist twist, this story is based on a real-life situation and gives a voice to women who have been historically silenced.
This first coming-of-age tale, which explores themes of loss and sisterhood, is a heart-wrenching read at just 176 pages. Gopi has been playing squash for as long as she can remember from the age of eleven. Her father enrols her in a rigorous training program after her mother passed away. Gopi's relationship with her sisters deteriorates as the game eventually takes over her entire life. She feels alive, though, when she's on the court and the sport's rhythms control her. As we follow a teenage athlete's quest to transcend herself, this book masterfully catches the commonplace and destroys it with beauty.
While Denmark's Princess Anne awaits her chance to marry Scotland's King James VI, her lady-in-waiting has her agenda to make sure the wedding goes off without a problem. In the meanwhile, a young pharmacist named Jura flees to Edinburgh from her hometown after being accused of witchcraft there, only to become entangled in the city's obsession with the supernatural. Using actual events as her basis, Kate Foster's The King's Witches presents a riveting depiction of three women essential to the Scottish witch trials of the sixteenth century.