Tag archieven: American Novel

Tom Perrotta – Ghost Town

Tom Perrotta Ghost Town reviews and information of the content of the novel by the American author. Scribner will publish the new novel by Tom Perrotta, the writer from the United States, on April 28, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Tom Perrotta Ghost Town reviews and information

Whenever a review of Ghost Town, the new novel written by Tom Perrotta, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.

  • “Tom Perrotta rouses the sleeping dogs of 1970s suburbia with tender complexity. Ghost Town is a time capsule dug up behind the old high school—an artifact of a family navigating loss in a nation at the crossroads.” (Tayari Jones, author)
  • Ghost Town is a brilliant, evocative novel, at once a page-turning ghost story, and a deeply moving exploration of grief. Tom Perrotta’s characters are people you know instantly, and the town he’s created feels like the place you grew up. I couldn’t put it down and after finishing it, I couldn’t escape the haunting nostalgia of my own memories.” (Jess Walter, author)

Tom Perrotta Ghost Town

Ghost Town

  • Author: Tom Perrotta (United States)
  • Book type: American novel
  • Publisher: Scribner
  • To be released: April 28, 2026
  • Length: 288 pages
  • Format: hardcover / ebook / audiobook
  • Prize: $ 28.00 / $ 14,99 / $ 18.99
  • Buying options >

Blurb of the new Tom Perrotta novel

A gripping and darkly nostalgic tale about a tumultuous summer in 1970s suburban New Jersey, from the perspective of a middle-aged writer looking back on a series of events that changed his life—and the story he finally has the courage to tell.

Jimmy Perrini lives in 1970s suburban New Jersey, a few miles from Manhattan, but a world apart. At the end of eighth grade, after tragedy strikes, Jimmy finds himself lost in a fog of grief that alienates him from friends and family, drifting instead into troubling friendships with two older teenagers: one a notorious local burnout with a fast car, an endless supply of weed, and a shaky grasp of reality; the other a smart, eccentric girl, whom Jimmy finds himself drawn to as they become entranced by her Ouija board, which may just offer the only salve to their grief.

As a fateful public drama unfolds, Jimmy is torn between the occult beyond and the cold realities of the place he has called home. Narrated by a much older Jimmy, a literary-turned-commercial novelist, Ghost Town reveals how the past haunts the present—the way our ghosts are always with us, even when we think we’ve left them behind.

Tom Perrotta was born on August 13, 1961 in Newark, New Jersey. he is  is the author of eleven works of fiction, including Election and Little Children, both of which were made into Oscar-nominated films, and The Leftovers and Mrs. Fletcher, which were adapted into acclaimed HBO series.

Matching books

New American novels

New American novels and stories. What new novels from US writers are coming out soon? Who is the author of the new novel or the stories from the United States? When will the book be released and by which publisher? Who is the author of the novel?

What new American novels are coming out?

This page provides an overview of new American novels and stories that are being released or will soon be available in bookstores. Besides information about the books’ content, you’ll also find information about the author, the publication, and ordering options. Published reviews of the thrillers are also included.

New American novels in 2026

The list of new novels in 2026 from American writers is organized by publication date, with the newest books at the top. Links lead to detailed information about the book, ordering options, and often to reviews.

Colson Whitehead Cool Machine reviewColson Whitehead – Cool Machine

Harlem trilogy part 3
American novel
Publisher: Doubleday
Released: July 21, 2026
With his usual pitch-perfect prose Whitehead paints a portrait of a city in transition, where shimmering skyscrapers rise to the heavens as displaced people huddle in abandoned tunnels below. In a dazzling display of protean imagination, Cool Machine roves all over the city, from Windows on the World to the Meadowlands, to show that in New York, and in the lives of Whitehead’s vivid characters, it’s what’s below the surface that reveals the truth…read on >

Portia Elan Homebound reviewPortia Elan – Homebound

coming-of-age novel, debut novel
Publisher: Chatto & Windus
Released: May 7, 2026
It’s 1983 and Becks can’t wait to get the hell out of Cincinnati. In the meantime, she has work to do: her uncle, the only person who understood her, has left her a half-finished game to complete. What Becks is coding will outlast her by centuries and shape the lives of a scientist, an astronaut and a desperate sea captain in ways she cannot imagine. It will connect these four pioneering women across time, vast oceans and far-distant planets and introduce them to a remarkable robot destined to gather together this disparate crew and bring them home…read on >

Elizabeth Strout The Things We Never Say reviewElizabeth Strout – The Things We Never Say

American novel
Publisher: Random House
Released: May 5, 2026
Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation…read on >

Tom Perrotta Ghost Town reviewTom Perrotta – Ghost Town

American novel about New Jersey in the 1970s
Publisher: Scribner
Released: April 28, 2026
Buying options >
Jimmy Perrini lives in 1970s suburban New Jersey, a few miles from Manhattan, but a world apart. At the end of eighth grade, after tragedy strikes, Jimmy finds himself lost in a fog of grief that alienates him from friends and family, drifting instead into troubling friendships with two older teenagers: one a notorious local burnout with a fast car, an endless supply of weed, and a shaky grasp of reality; the other a smart, eccentric girl, whom Jimmy finds himself drawn to as they become entranced by her Ouija board, which may just offer the only salve to their grief…read on >

Jay McInerney See You on the Other Side reviewJay McInerney – See You on the Other Side

American novel
Publisher: Knopf
Released: April 14, 2026
The celebration of the thirty-fifth wedding anniversary of Russell Calloway’s best friend, Washington Lee—the least likely monogamist of his acquaintance somehow having become over the years a model husband and father—at the Odeon in the Spring of 2020 sparks an at once funny and moving autumnal reckoning with mortality as the specter of the Covid-19 virus spreads…read on >

Ben Lerner Transcription reviewBen Lerner – Transcription

American novel
Publisher: Granta Books
Released: April 9, 2026
A writer returns to his college town, where he is to conduct what will be the final published interview with Thomas, his ninety-year-old mentor. But after he drops his smartphone in the hotel sink, he arrives at Thomas’s house with no recording device – a fact he is mysteriously unable to confess…read on >

Giada Scodellaro Ruins, Child reviewGiada Scodellaro – Ruins, Child

American novel, debut novel
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions
Released: March 26, 2026
Ordering options >
Set in what may be the future, and centred on six women sharing a space in some sort of crumbling apartment tower, Ruins, Child is remarkable for its irresistible sweep, wit, and prickly splintered truth. Giada Scodellaro’s novel is like a precious old mirror: dropped, looking up at you, flashing light and bits of the undeniable. With the pulsating sway of its liquid mosaic narrative, the novel may recall Virginia Woolf’s The Waves, but is entirely its own animal: kaleidoscopic, pointedly disorienting in its looseness, and powered along by snatches of speech from its compelling ensemble cast, often vernacular, often overheard…read on >

Victoria Shorr Fatherland reviewVictoria Shorr – Fatherland

American novel, family novel
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Released: March 10, 2026
Set in a prosperous midwestern town in the 1950s, Fatherland is a story about the effect of convenient lies and discovered truths. While Martin’s abandonment throws up new difficulties for bewildered Lora, a housewife, who must now find a way to nurture and provide for herself and children, it unleashes a swirl of emotions in their daughter, Josie, who struggles to come to term with his absence. Fatherland follows Josie from this fateful event, across many decades and milestones and through the phases of her tenuous, emotionally fraught relationship with Martin—and the way she begins to move beyond their shared past…read on >

Rebecca Kauffman The Reservation reviewRebecca Kauffman – The Reservation

American novel, restaurant novel
Publisher: Counterpoint Press
Released: February 24, 2026
The Reservation explores the loves and labors of an ensemble of more than a dozen restaurant workers as they strive to get a perfect meal to the table. On the morning of the most important booking in the long history of the celebrated restaurant, Aunt Orsa’s erupts into chaos with the discovery that twenty-two rib eye steaks have been stolen. Hers is the most august of fine-dining establishments in this Midwestern college town, and tonight Orsa is set to host a large party honoring a very special guest—a bestselling author of national renown…read on >

Lionel Shriver A Better Life reviewLionel Shriver – A Better Life

American novel
Publisher: Harper Collins
To be released: February 10, 2026
Length: 368 pages
Format: hardback / ebook / audiobook
Prize: $ 30.00 / $ 14.99 / $ 27.99
Order book from: Amazon / Bol
In a provocative novel addressing contemporary immigration by the sharply observant Lionel Shriver, a New York family takes in a Honduran migrant—who may or may not be the innocent paragon she claims to be. Gloria Bonaventura, a divorced mother of three living with her 26-year-old son Nico in a sprawling house in Brooklyn, decides to participate in a new city program that would pay her to take in a migrant as a boarder. Gloria is thrilled when sweet, kind, helpful Martine arrives. But Nico is skeptical…read on >

Gabriel Tallent Crux reviewGabriel Tallent – Crux

  • Book type: American novel
  • Publisher: Penguin Fig Tree
  • To be released: February 5, 2026
  • Length: 368 pages
  • Format: hardback /  ebook / audiobook
  • Prize: £ 18.99 /  £ 8.99 /  £ 16.00
  • Order book from: Amazon / Bol
  • Content: A heartstopping story of friendship, thrill-seeking and defying expectations. Dan and Tamma are two Californian teenagers growing up dirt poor in the shadows of the Joshua Tree National Park, one of the world’s great rock climbing meccas. Their mothers had once been teenage waitresses and best friends until their paths diverged. Now Dan’s mother spends her days locked in her room, her dreams squandered and all her hopes pinned on getting her precociously clever son out of town and away to university…read on >

George Saunders Vigil reviewGeorge Saunders – Vigil

American novel
Publisher: Pan macmillan
Released: January 27, 2026
Not for the first time – in fact, for the 343rd time – Jill ‘Doll’ Blaine finds herself crashing down to earth, head-first, rear-up, to accompany her latest charge into the afterlife. She soon realises however that this man is not quite like the others. For powerful oil tycoon K.J. Boone will not be consoled, because he has nothing to regret. He lived a big, bold life, and the world is better for it… isn’t it?…read on >

Jennifer Niven Meet the Newmans reviewJennifer Niven – Meet the Newmans

American Family Novel
Publisher: Pan macmillan
Released: January 15, 2026
Los Angeles, 1964. For two decades, Del and Dinah Newman and their sons, Guy and Shep, have ruled television as America’s Favourite Family. Millions of viewers tune in every week to watch them play flawless, black-and-white versions of themselves. But now the Sixties are in full swing, and the Newmans’ perfection suddenly feels woefully out of touch. Ratings are in free fall, as are the Newmans themselves…read on >

Sara Levine The Hitch reviewSara Levine – The Hitch

American novel, comic novel
Publisher: Roxanne Gay Books
Released: 13 January 2026
Rose Cutler defines herself by her exacting standards. As an anti-racist, Jewish secular feminist eco-warrior, she is convinced she knows the right way to do everything, including parent her six-year-old nephew Nathan. When Rose offers to look after him while his parents visit Mexico for a week, her brother and sister-in-law reluctantly agree, provided she understands the rules—routine, bedtime, homework—and doesn’t overstep. But when Rose’s Newfoundland attacks and kills a corgi at the park, Nathan starts acting strangely…read on >

New American novels and stories 2025

The list of new novels in 2025 from American writers is organized by publication date, with the newest books at the top. Links lead to detailed information about the book, ordering options, and often to reviews.

Davey Davis Casanova 20 or, Hot World reviewDavey Davis – Casanova 20

or, Hot World

American queer novel
Publisher: Catapult
Released: December 2, 2025
Length: 304 pages
Format: paperback / ebook
Prize: $ 17.95 / $ 12,99
Order book from: Amazon / Bol
Cursed by an extreme and unrelenting beauty, Adrian has drawn the frenzied attention of adoring strangers since childhood. As a twenty-nine-year-old in New York City, he spends his days drifting between affairs with women (and occasionally men) who provide him with everything he needs, from spending money to luxurious vacations to even, once, a mini yacht. With this generosity comes a dangerous possessiveness that often puts him at risk of much worse than heartbreak. But as people begin removing their masks in the spring of 2021, Adrian’s aimless sexual availability is interrupted by a shocking discovery: He is no longer beautiful…read on >

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore Terry Dactyl reviewMattilda Bernstein Sycamore – Terry Dactyl

American feminist novel
Publisher: Coffee House Press
Released: November, 11, 2025
Length: 305 pages
Format: paperback / ebook
Prize: € 15,95
Order book from: Amazon
Terry Dactyl has lived many lives. Raised by boisterous lesbian mothers in Seattle, she comes of age as a trans girl in the 1980s in a world of dancing queens and late-night house parties just as the AIDS crisis ravages their world. After moving to New York City, Terry finds a new family among gender-bending club kids bonded by pageantry and drugs, fiercely loyal and unapologetic. She lands a job at a Soho gallery, where, after partying all night, she spends her days bringing club culture to the elite art world…read on >

Eshani Surya Ravishing reviewEshani Surya – Ravishing

Debut novel
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Released: November 11, 2025
Length: 320 pages
Format: hardback / ebook
Prize: $ 28.00
Order book from: Amazon / Bol
A provocative, razor-sharp novel about two Indian American siblings caught in the clutches of a beauty tech company, Ravishing is an incisive portrait of a predatory industry and its dangerous ability to capitalize on our deepest insecurities. Full of heart and vulnerability, Eshani Surya’s dazzling debut shines a light on the dark enticements of wellness culture and the ill-fated pursuit of perfection…read on >

John Irving Queen Esther novel reviewJohn Irving – Queen Esther

American novel
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Released: November 6, 2025
Length: 256 pages
Format: hardcover / ebook / luisterboek
Prize: $ 30.00 / $ 14.99 / $ 16.99
Order book from: Amazon / Bol
Dutch translation: Queen Esther
John Irving’s sixteenth novel is a testament to his enduring ability to weave complex characters and intricate narratives that challenge and captivate. Queen Esther is not just a story of survival but a profound exploration of identity, belonging, and the enduring impact of history on our personal lives showcasing why Irving remains one of the world’s most beloved, provocative, and entertaining authors—a storyteller of our time and for all time…read on >

Brigitte Dale The Good Daughters reviewBrigitte Dale – The Good Daughters

historical novel
Author: Brigitte Dale (United States)
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Released: November 4, 2025
Length: 352 pages
Format: hardcover/ ebook
Prize: $ 27.95 / $ 18.99
Order book from: Amazon / Bol
A moving and vivid story of three suffragettes in London and the battle for equality that tests the strength of their will and the bonds of their friendship. In 1912, three young women from wildly different backgrounds are bound together by their desire to have a say in their future. With the dangerous stakes of the suffrage campaign becoming a fight for the women’s bodies and lives, they enter a treacherous world where the laws and justice system are stacked against them. They face violent protests, hunger strikes, and brutal forced feedings, and the women must decide how much they are willing to risk for their freedom and for each other…read on >

Aja Gabel Lightbreakers reviewAja Gabel – Lightbreakers

American novel
Publisher: Riverhead Books
To be released: November 4, 2025
Length: 332 pages
Format: paperback / ebook
Prize: $ 30.00
Order book from: Amazon / Bol
Maya, an artist, and Noah, a quantum physicist, share an insatiable curiosity about the world. But their happy marriage has a shadow over it: Serena, the child Noah had with his first wife, who died before she turned four. When Noah is invited by the Janus Project to unravel the secrets of time travel, he jumps at the opportunity. At a laboratory deep in the Texas desert, he begins participating in a dangerous experiment that could result in something he thought impossible: seeing his daughter again…read on >

Anika Jade Levy Flat Earth reviewAnika Jade Levy – Flat Earth

American novel, debut novel
Author: Anika Jade Levy (United States)
Publisher: Catapult
Released: November 4, 2025
Length: 224 pages
Format: hardback / ebook
Prize: € 26.00
Order book from: Amazon / Bol
Avery is a grad student in New York working on a collection of cultural reports and flailing financially and emotionally. She dates older men for money, and others for the oblivion their egos offer. In an act of desperation, Avery takes a job at a right-wing dating app. The “white-paper” she is tasked to write for the startup eventually merges with her dissertation, resulting in a metafictional text that reveals itself over the course of the novel…read on >

Salman Rushdie The Eleventh HourSalman Rushdie – The Eleventh Hour

Stories
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Released: 4 November 2025
Do we accommodate ourselves to death, or rail against it? How can we bid farewell to the places that we have made home? How do we achieve fulfilment with our lives if we don’t know the end of our own stories? The Eleventh Hour ponders life and death, legacy and identity with the penetrating insight and boundless imagination that have made Salman Rushdie one of the most celebrated writers of our time…read on >

Gish Jen Bad Bad Girl reviewGish Jen – Bad Bad Girl

autobiographical novel
Publisher: Knopf
Released: 21 October 2025
The award-winning author of The Resisters returns with an engrossing, blisteringly funny-sad autobiographical novel tracing a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship. Spanning continents, generations, and cultures, Bad Bad Girl is a novel only Gish Jen could have written: genre-bending, courageous, wise, and as immensely incisive as it is compassionate…read on >

Ha Jin Looking for Tank Man reviewHa Jin – Looking for Tank Man

novel about Tiananmen Square protests
Publisher: Other Press
Released: 21 October 2025
When the Chinese premier visits Harvard, international student Pei Lulu encounters a lone protester, who will drastically change her understanding of the People’s Republic and her own place in the world. For the first time, Lulu learns of the 1989 protest movement and the government’s violent response. Determined to find out more, she seeks answers from her family, who share surprising stories of their involvement, and from a formative university course based on powerful firsthand accounts…read on >

Thomas McGuane A Wooded Shore reviewThomas McGuane – A Wooded Shore

American stories
Publisher: Knopf
Released: 14 October 2025
Nine shattering, hilarious tales of men on the outskirts of America, habituating the motels, hot dog stands, and dive bars time forgot, grappling with a world that is swiftly changing, and dreaming of a return to the wooded shores of their youth. In these nine peerless stories, a family boating trip veers into emotional disaster while very narrowly avoiding the physical; a would-be cheater hands over his car—his prized possession—for a shot with a pretty girl; a furniture magnate and his filmmaker daughter visit his impoverished hometown…read on >

Brandon Taylor Minor Black Figures reviewBrandon Taylor – Minor Black Figures

American novel
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Released: 14 October 2025
The story of a gay Black painter navigating the worlds of art, desire, and creativity. New York simmers with heat and unrest as Wyeth, a painter, finds himself at an impasse in his own work. After attending a dubious show put on by a collective of careerist artists, he retreats to a bar in the West Village where he meets Keating, a former seminarian. Over the long summer, as the two get to know each another, they talk and argue about God, sex, and art. Meanwhile, at his job working for an art restorer, Wyeth begins to investigate the life and career of a forgotten, minor black artist…read on >

Ron Rindo Life, and Death, and Giants reviewRon Rindo – Life, and Death, and Giants

American novel, Wisconsin novel
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Released: 11 October 2025
In Life, and Death, and Giants, Gabriel’s extraordinary, timeless story is told by those whose lives are transformed by him: the veterinarian who delivers him and becomes his mentor; his grandmother, who is troubled by a deep void in her faith; the salty bar owner who acts as a bridge between the Amish and English communities in Lakota; and the football coach who tries to counsel Gabriel as his fame explodes, with consequences that no one could have anticipated…read on >

Shannon Bowring In a Distant Valley reviewShannon Bowring – In a Distant Valley

Maine novel, winter novel
Publisher: Europa Editions
Released: 8 October 2025
Both a love letter and a window into the rural places that have shaped many, In a Distant Valley sets the stage for a final act to play out across a deep winter in snowy Maine…read on >

Chris Kraus The Four Spent the Day Together reviewChris Kraus – The Four Spent the Day Together

American novel
Publisher: Scribner
Released: 7 October 2025
On the Iron Range of northern Minnesota, at the end of the last decade, three teenagers shot and killed an older acquaintance after spending the day with him. In a cold, depressed town, on the fringes of the so-called “meth community,” the three young people were quickly arrested and imprisoned. At the time of the murder, Catt Greene and her husband, Paul Garcia, are living nearby in a house they’d bought years earlier as a summer escape from Los Angeles,,,read on >

Thomas Pynchon Shadow Ticket reviewThomas Pynchon – Shadow Ticket

Milwaukee novel, crime novel
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Released: 7 October 2025
Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labour-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a onetime strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he’s found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who’s taken a mind to go wandering…read on >

Jerome Charyn Maria La Divina reviewJerome Charyn – Maria La Divina

biographical of opera singer Maria Callas
Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press
Released: 16 September 2025
Maria Callas, called La Divina, is widely recognized as the greatest diva who ever lived. Jerome Charyn’s Callas springs to life as the headstrong, mercurial, and charismatic artist who captivated generations of fans, thrilling audiences with her brilliant performances and defiant personality…read on >

Catherine Dang What Hunger reviewCatherine Dang – What Hunger

American novel
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Released: 12 August 2025
A haunting coming-of-age tale following the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, Ronny Nguyen, as she grapples with the weight of generational trauma while navigating the violent power of teenage girlhood…read on >

Nick Fuller Googins The Frequency of Living Things reviewNick Fuller Googins – The Frequency of Living Things

Family novel
Publisher: Atria Books
Released: 12 August 2025
A heartbreaking American epic about three sisters who unearth lifetimes of family tensions as they are forced to rescue one of their own from peril, testing the limits of sacrifice, sisterhood, and forgiveness…read on >

C. Mallon Dogs reviewC. Mallon – Dogs

Debut novel
Publisher: Scribner
Released: 12 August 2025
A singular, devastating debut novel, Dogs traces the fallout of one catastrophic night in the lives of five high school wrestlers, asking what can survive in the blast radius of latent trauma and violence…read on >

Princess Joy L. Perry This Here Is Love reviewPrincess Joy L. Perry – This Here Is Love

debut novel
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Released: 5 August 2025
A breathtaking, haunting, and epic saga, This Here Is Love intimately intertwines us with these beautifully drawn, unforgettable American characters. Bless, taken to serve the slaveowner’s daughter, must decide where she belongs: with the enslaved or above them…read on >

Victor Suthammanont Hollow Spaces reviewVictor Suthammanont – Hollow Spaces

American novel
Publisher: Counterpoint Press
Released: 5 August 2025
The only Asian American partner at a prestigious law firm sees his professional and personal life demolished when he is put on trial for murder. Three decades later, his children reunite to uncover the truth and try to salvage what remains of their family…read on >

Ivonne Lamazares The Tilting House reviewIvonne Lamazares – The Tilting House

Cuba novel
Publisher: Counterpoint Press
Released: 22 July 2025
Spanning two countries and three decades, The Tilting House explores identity and family loyalty, the effects of losing one’s mother and motherland, the scars of political and historical upheaval, and an immigrant’s complex quest both to return “home” and to be free from the past. Through her long journey, Yuri comes to understand that the past cannot be fully recovered, or fully escaped, even as she approaches the possibility of compassion for Mariela, for Ruth, for others, and for herself…lees verder >

Katie Yee Maggie reviewKatie Yee – Maggie

or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar
debut novel
Publisher: S&S/Summit Books
Released: 22 July 2025
A Chinese American woman spins tragedy into comedy when her life falls apart in a taut, wry debut novel that grapples with grief, motherhood, and myths…read on >

Joyce Maynard How the Light Gets In reviewJoyce Maynard – How the Light Gets In

American novel
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Released: 17 July 2025
How the Light Gets In follows Eleanor and her family through fifteen years (2010 to 2024) as their story plays out against a uniquely American backdrop and the events that transform their world (climate change, the January 6th insurrection, school violence) and shape their lives (later-life love, parental alienation, steadfast)…read on >

Susan Choi Flashlight reviewSusan Choi – Flashlight

American novel
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Released: 10 July 2025
Shortlist Booker Prize 2025
The astonishing story of one family swept up in the tides of the twentieth century, ranging from post-war Japan to suburban America and the North Korean regime…read on >

Related books and information

Afbeelding bovenzijde: The Last Bookstore, South Spring Street, Los Angeles (I. Shalyminov, Unsplash)

Victoria Shorr – Fatherland

Victoria Shorr Fatherland review and informatie of the novel by the American author. W.W. Norton will publish the new Victoria Shorr novel on March 10, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Victoria Shorr Fatherland reviews and information

Whenever a review of Fatherland, the novel by Victoria Shorr, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.

  • “I’m hooked on Victoria Shorr’s gorgeous prose.” (John Densmore,  drummer for The Doors, author of the song Riders on the Storm)
  • “Written with the same absorbing authenticity as works by Ann Napolitano, Ann Patchett, and Anne Tyler, Shorr’s compassionate rendition of divorce’s devastation depicts a wife’s betrayal, a daughter’s denial, and a husband’s selfishness with piercing accuracy.” (Booklist)

Victoria Shorr Fatherland

Fatherland

  • Author: Victoria Shorr (United States)
  • Book type: American novel
  • Publisher: W.W. Norton
  • To be released: March 10, 2026
  • Length: 256 pages
  • Format: hardback / ebook
  • Prize: $ 29.99
  • Buying options >

Victoria Shorr Fatherland reviews and information

Whenever a review of Fatherland, the novel by Victoria Shorr, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.

  • “I’m hooked on Victoria Shorr’s gorgeous prose.” (John Densmore,  drummer for The Doors, author of the song Riders on the Storm)
  • “Written with the same absorbing authenticity as works by Ann Napolitano, Ann Patchett, and Anne Tyler, Shorr’s compassionate rendition of divorce’s devastation depicts a wife’s betrayal, a daughter’s denial, and a husband’s selfishness with piercing accuracy.” (Booklist)

Blurb of the new Victoria Shorr novel

A tale of the American dream on the rocks. A legacy of broken promises, deceit, and perseverance against the backdrop of family commitment.

Martin and Lora Brier, with three young children, possess all the trappings of a perfect life . . . except Martin is having yet another affair. Without warning, he abandons the family for his mistress and a new house on the other side of town.

Set in a prosperous midwestern town in the 1950s, Fatherland is a story about the effect of convenient lies and discovered truths. While Martin’s abandonment throws up new difficulties for bewildered Lora, a housewife, who must now find a way to nurture and provide for herself and children, it unleashes a swirl of emotions in their daughter, Josie, who struggles to come to term with his absence. Fatherland follows Josie from this fateful event, across many decades and milestones and through the phases of her tenuous, emotionally fraught relationship with Martin—and the way she begins to move beyond their shared past.

Written in Victoria Shorr’s inimitable clean, spare prose, Fatherland is a powerful, layered novel of a family in the aftermath of deception.

Victoria Shorr is the author of four works of fiction, including the acclaimed novel The Plum Trees, which was listed as a New York Times Recommended Historical Fiction selection for 2021. Victoria Shorr has lived in Taos, Brasil and Los Angeles, and is now back in New York. She is married to writer/film maker John Perkins, and has three children and six grandchildren.

Matching books

Giada Scodellaro – Ruins, Child

Giada Scodellaro Ruins, Child review and information about the novel by the Italian born American writer. Fitzcarraldo Editions will publish the Giada Scodellaro novel on March 26, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Giada Scodellaro Ruins, Child reviews

Whenever a review of Ruins, Child, the novel by Giada Scodellaro, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.

  • “Giada Scodellaro is one of the most astonishing writers of her generation and Ruins, Child is a visionary novel. Scodellaro refracts and redefines the canon of Black culture, the archive of Black experience. The result is a masterpiece that lives and breathes on the page, every sentence shimmering with wit, musicality, brilliance and verve.” (Katie Kitamura, author of Audition)
  • “Ruins, Child reads like wild and textured wind, like seeds dispersed, like focus pulled then blossomed outwards, like bodies leaking, thumping, persisting, cleaving: together, then apart. This is a book of breath and people, of the precious metrics of language with all its lakes and tales that flows between and towards women. Giada Scodellaro has written fierce magic, wet earth, hot limbs; it is urgent and beautiful.” (Helen Marten, author of The Boiled in Between)

Giada Scodellaro Ruins, Child

Ruins, Child

  • Author: Giada Scodellaro (United States)
  • Book type: American novel
  • Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions
  • To be released: March 26, 2026
  • Length: 176 pages
  • Format: paperback / ebook
  • Prize: £ 12.99
  • Buying options >

Blurb of the Giada Scodellaro novel

Set in what may be the future, and centred on six women sharing a space in some sort of crumbling apartment tower, Ruins, Child is remarkable for its irresistible sweep, wit, and prickly splintered truth. Giada Scodellaro’s novel is like a precious old mirror: dropped, looking up at you, flashing light and bits of the undeniable.

With the pulsating sway of its liquid mosaic narrative, the novel may recall Virginia Woolf’s The Waves, but is entirely its own animal: kaleidoscopic, pointedly disorienting in its looseness, and powered along by snatches of speech from its compelling ensemble cast, often vernacular, often overheard.

It’s a book seemingly drawn from deep wells of Black American reality: Scodellaro’s female protagonists push back against authority in the very vivacity of their telling, setting afoot a freeing-up and a mysterious inversion of marginalization. A surreal musing, Ruins, Child uses the lens of urban infrastructure, social commentary, folklore, choreography and collective listening to create an ethnography of place and an ode to communal ruins.

Giada Scodellaro was born in Naples, Italy and raised in the Bronx, New York. Giada’s writings have appeared in the New YorkerBOMB and Harper’s Magazine, among other publications. Her debut collection, Some of Them Will Carry Me, was named one of the New Yorker’s best books of 2022.

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Elizabeth Strout – The Things We Never Say

Elizabeth Strout The Things We Never Say review and information of the content of new novel by the American author. Random House will publish the new Elizabeth Strout novel on May 5, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Elizabeth Strout The Things We Never Say reviews

Whenever a review of The Things We Never Say, the new novel by Elizabeth Strout, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.

Elizabeth Strout The Things We Never Say

The Things We Never Say

  • Author: Elizabeth Strout (United States)
  • Book type: American novel
  • Publisher: Random House
  • To be released: May 5, 2026
  • Length: 224 pages
  • Format: hardback / ebook / audiobook
  • Prize: $ 29.00
  • Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the Elizabeth Strout novel

Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout’s new novel tells the story of a chance incident that sparks a powerful realization in a beloved teacher’s life—a poignant meditation on loneliness, friendship, parenthood, and the importance of truth in a capsizing world.

Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his mind: How is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?

And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.

Elizabeth Strout, as we have come to expect, delivers a moving exploration of the human condition—one that brims with compassion for each and every one of her indelible characters. With exquisite prose and profound insight, The Things We Never Say takes one man’s fears and loneliness and makes them universal. And in the same breath, captures the abiding love that sustains and holds us all.

Elizabeth Strout was born january 6, 1956 in Portland, Maine. She is the Pulitzer prize-winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible, Oh William!, Amy and Isabelle, Abide With Me, The Burgess Boys, Olive Kitteridge, and Olive, Again. She has been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize. She lives in Maine.

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Alex Z. Salinas – The Dream Life of Larry Rios

Alex Z. Salinas The Dream Life of Larry Rios review, recensie en informatie over de inhoud van de Amerikaanse roman. Op 23 oktober 2025 verschijnt bij FlowerSong Press de debuutroman van de Amerikaanse schrijver Alex Z. Salinas. Hier lees je informatie over de inhoud van het boek, de auteur en over de uitgave.

Alex Z. Salinas The Dream Life of Larry Rios reviews en recensies

Als er in de media een boekbespreking, recensie of review verschijnt van The Dream Life of Larry Rios, de roman van Alex Z. Salinas, dan besteden we er op deze pagina aandacht aan.

Recensie van Tim Donker

Welke Raster was het? t Ging over oulipo. Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle. Daar een heel nummer over, waar is dat nummer, en waar heb ik dat indexnummer gelaten waarin ik kon zien waar elk nummer ookalweer over ging? Geheugen, spreek. Als het spreekt, zegt het dat ze oulipo vertaald hadden als wemoli – Werkplaats Mogelijke Literatuur. Dus zeg. Het potentieel werd mogelijk. Vraagt u denkt u zegt u, wat is het verschil (of misschien vraagt en zegt en denkt u niets, en leest u dit gewoon, of u leest niets, u staat daar in de hoek van de keuken en schenkt uzelf nog een kopje koffie in en dat is uw goed recht). Wel. Het verschil is. En het verschil is dit: de potentie is er al, het moet alleen nog verwezenlijkt worden. Het potente barst van (latent) leven. Het mogelijke daarentegen kan alleen bestaan door haar niet-bestaan want bestaan heft het mogelijke van de mogelijkheid op. Slechts door er niet te zijn, is het mogelijke mogelijk (niet voor niets zong Blixa Bargeld ooit, toen hij nog goed was, of, naja, al bijna niet meer: Nur was nicht ist, ist möglich) (met klem zong hij dat) (en de klem was klemmelijk want zodra iets is, is het niet lange mogelijk maar gewoon onderdeel van het zijnde) (dat we aantreffen) (als geworpen -) (ofnee, hou maar op). Ge peinst dit verschil tussen mogelijk en potentieel misschien als haarkloverij maar er zit, zeker ten aanzien van oulipo, iets essentieels in. Het gaat over het verkennen van de volledige potentie die literatuur heeft, en over dat wat verdampt van zodra het ontstaat. Of: sommige dingen zijn interessanter als ze buiten bereik blijven. In potentie is alles grenzeloos, wat beoefend wordt, heeft kennelijk nood aan bakens. Is dat niet juist hoe het oulipo verging? De eindeloze potentie van literatuur verkennen door zichzelf, soms zinnige maar veel vaker nog totaal onzinnige, grenzen te stellen (denk daar eens over na: alleen door zich te begrenzen kan men trachten te raken aan grenzeloosheid, wat zegt dat over de condition humaine?). Schrijf een godeganzelijke roman zonder ook maar één keer de e te gebruiken. Knap hoor dat je dat driehonderd pagina’s ofzo volhoudt maar schreef je een (lezenswaard) boek of voltooide je een complexe puzzel? En dat is dan het verschil, mensen, tussen potentie en mogelijkheid: de potentie is eindeloos, prachtig, opwindend en levenskrachtig – de tot bestaan gebrachte mogelijkheid is een ingevulde puzzel.

Waarmee maar gezegd wil zijn dat schrijvers er beter aan doen zichzelf geen grenzen te stellen.

De Brontëzusjes konden een broer hebben en het truffelvarken laat een traan; Fernando A. Flores (wie?) trekt, niet geheel onterecht, een parallel tussen Alex Z. Salinas (wat is dat met die tussenletters, van a tot z in dit geval ook nog eens) en Raymond Queneau. Ook Salinas peinst klaarblijkelijk beter te schrijven met een blok aan zijn been. In The dream life of Larry Rios ontrolt zich een verhaal in een hoofdstuk of  driehonderd ofzo (sommige hoofdstukjes hebben om onverklaarbare redenen een bisnummertje) – elk bestaande uit precies 101 woorden (ik zeg nu wel precies maar ik ga moeten toegeven dat ik het niet nageteld heb, niet eens één hoofstukje ervan). In die net-iets-meer-dan-driehonderd keer 101 woorden ontvouwt zich, fragmentaries, langzaamaan, gevend, nemend, onthullend en weder herroepend, het leven van Chicano dichter Larry Rios. Hij is iemands vader. Hij is de ex van meerdere iemanden. Hij is, misschien, ook iemands moordenaar, want Salinas begint er hier recht op: “Er was eens een schrijver die zoveel lui had vermoord in zijn verhalen dat hij het idee had gekregen om het zelf eens te proberen.”

Maar een idee is nog geen moord (& hier komt weeral mjoeziek beste mensen, als u daar niet zo goed tegen kan sluit dan uw ogen en open ze pas weer na de volgende witregel: zong Justin Sullivan, niet per se met klem maar wel net zo indringend als die Bargeld van daarstraks, niet: just that i want to kill somebody / doesn’t mean to say that i will); wat mogelijk is, hoeft nog niet te geschieden (was is ist was nicht ist ist…). De lezer leert dan ook niet veel over de moord die Rios gepleegd zou kunnen hebben, wel dat hij zijn vader gedood heeft maar dat neemt de lezer, of deze lezer dan toch, eerder als een overdrachtelijke, zeg freudiaanse vadermoord. Over zoveel andere dingen is Rios een stuk openhartiger. Bijvoorbeeld over zijn literaire aspiraties. Het proza heeft afgedaan voor hem, nu schrijft hij gedichten over de degenslikkende kikker Yuks. Want nu haat Rios mensen, dus schrijft hij poëzie. Rios heeft Wittgenstein gelezen, Rios heeft Proust gelezen, Rios heeft haast alles wel gelezen. Hij is een Chicano dichter, een gescheiden man, een waardeloze vader. “Het leven is goedkoop”, is zijn motto, want 70% ervan, is misleidende reclame. Larry Rios is nog nooit in Hong Kong geweest. Wel praat hij af en toe met een dode schrijver, welke dode schrijver, er zijn er zoveel, met James Baldwin, Larry Rios praat soms met James Baldwin.

(ik had een docent ooit, echtwaar, op die soort van schrijfopleiding die ik deed, hij gaf de module poëzie schrijven, hij dacht de studenten ter wille te zijn door af en toe een rookpauze in te lassen, mij was hij daarmee niet ter wille, ik rookte niet, ik rook niet, ik meestal zitten, om te peinzen, om te zitten, om te kijken, de hemeltergend moje Sandra bleef meestal ook zitten maar ik was te kapot omdat iemand naar Mallorca was gegaan en al mijn recht op liefde met zich mee had genomen dus ik bleef zitten en ik las, die keer was het Een ander land en die docent kwam naar me toe, waarom kwam hij godverdomme nu net naar mij toe, is dat een goed boek vroeg hij, ach het is wat je peinzen kunt van Baldwin ik zei maar die eikel kende James Baldwin niet, ik dacht dat hij een grapje maakte, maar hij maakte geen grapje, hij kende James Baldwin echt niet)

Deze man, deze Larry Rios, aan oulipoëske banden leggen, werkt dat, een chicano dichter extraordinaire, een man die alle kanten uitgaat, in zijn hoofd toch, aan een ketting van honderdenéén woorden per hoofdstuk?

Wel. Misschien werkt het.
Het zou kunnen werken.
Mogelijkerwijs werkt het.

Met fragmentarisme is om te beginnen al weinig mis. De hoofdstukjes vertellen niet per se een lopend verhaal, want het zijn, naar hun aard, brokken. Herinneringen. Beschouwingen. Overpeinzingen. Gebeurtenissen. Anecdotes. Vaker dan eens is het gewoonweg pure poëzie: hoeveel van Salinas zit er in Rios?, want ook hij heeft zich pas onlangs op het proza toegelegd; Salinas pende vier dichtbundels, kwam toen af met een verhalenbundel en laat The Dream Life Of Larry Rios gelden als zijn eerste roman – de poëtiese achtergrond is merkbaar en dat is waarom ik liever dan van hoofdstukken van prozagedichten gewaag: ruim driehonderd prozagedichten. Odes soms. Aan lichaamsdelen bijvoorbeeld. Armen. Knieën. Voeten. Kootjes. Borstbeen. Kuiten.

Of een dichterlijke verkenning van eenzijdige objecten. Misschien is de wind eenzijdig? Misschien is de dood eenzijdig? Misschien is de jazz van John Coltrane eenzijdig? Misschien is het bloed van Christus eenzijdig? Misschien is het genie van Dalí eenzijdig? Misschien is het fantoombeen van St. Anna eenzijdig? Misschien representeert de Möbiusband de niet-euclidische oneindige ruimte?

Of hoe de gaten in Larry Rios’ kennis muziek kunnen maken. Wat hij niet weet. De verschillen in vijf wolkensoorten herkennen (al ging dat misschien over een digitale “cloud” maar dat zijn dan weer de gaten in mijn kennis), de ethiek achter het vervaardigen van farmaceutische producten, en hoe kunnen vliegtuigen eigenlijk vliegen.

Of de dood aan iedereen. Dood aan kampioenen, dood aan verliezers. Dood aan radikalen, parasieten, minnaars, pacifisten, anachronisten, altruïsten, alpinisten, chefs komma’s kannibalen proletariërs hackers deutragonisten ballingen statistici senators filantropen rokkenjagers voorvaderen schoonheidsspecialisten micromanagers generaals samenzweerders apothekers conformisten botanisten wandelaars wezels weerwolven stropers freelancers kraaglozen necrofielen imitators.

Of. Het loutere bestaan, al is het maar in Rios’ hoofd van Señora Schadenfreude – de perfecte vrouw. Een madonna met een parasolletje.

Of gewoon de vele prachtzinnen. Zinnen als “Een jongen wordt een man, wordt iemand anders, terwijl zijn bibliotheek groeit, verschrompelt zijn cognitie”; “Het ergste is al gebeurd, maar het verschrikkelijkste moet nog komen”; “’[W]e ademen zuurstof in, onbelangrijkheid uit.”.

Geef toe: in veel “gewoon” proza kom je dit soort pracht niet zo veelvuldig tegen.

En een ander mooi ding aan de korte hoofdstukken, p’don prozagedichten, is dat Salinas veel te raden overlaat. De moord die er wel of niet was. Het vaderschap. Maar zelfs de naam. Larry Rios blijkt niet de echte naam van de hoofdpersoon; hij noemt zich alleen maar zo. Omdat Larry zijn favoriet was bij the three stooges, en omdat “Rios” precies die exotische klank heeft die past bij zijn modderig-groene ogen (hij is uiteindelijk een Chicano dichter!). Maar Larry Rios was ook de naam die hij op een grafsteen zag toen hij een wat merkwaardig onderonsje had met zijn toenmalige geliefde Tina Sandiego. Een latere ex, maar wel de ex van voor de ex.

Wie hij is.
Wat zijn leven is.
Wat het droomleven is.

(naja dat had iets te maken met wat Larry Rios’ vader (ook een dichter – hij schrijft alexandrijnen over het meisje dat hij (per ongeluk? ook dat wordt niet echt duidelijk) dood heeft geschoten in Vietnam) ooit zei: dertig seconden is alles wat je nodig hebt om alles te weten te komen wat je weten moet over iemand, maar breng een droomleven ermee door en je zult haar nog even slecht kennen als jezelf)

Hoeveel chaos een schrijver kwijt kan in 101 woorden.

Wel, de lezer eindig bij het honderdeneerste woord vaak op een volstrekt andere plek dan waar hij begon. Neem bijvoorbeeld de keer dat Larry Rios zich zit te ergeren over een boekbespreking in The New York Times. Je denkt misschien nu komt het. Nu krijgen we een tirade tegen critici, of misschien wel tegen letterkunde in het algemeen maar ineens is Larry Rios bij Starbucks en slaat hij een niks met literatuur of letterkunde te maken hebbend praatje met een verkoopster. Ik ben hier nu een vaste gast hè?, zegt hij. En de verkoopster: We zijn allemaal wel ergens een vaste gast. Waarop Larry Rios zich bedenkt hoezeer dat klinkt als het B-kantje van een hitje van Rolling Stones. Maar het is een Engelstalig boek, dus stel u Mick Jagger voor die zingt We Are All Regulars Somewhere en ik zweer u, voorwaar ik zeg u, ik zweer u: u zult het hem horen zingen, onze Mick, traag, heupwiegend, zingend We Are All Regulars Somewhere We Are All Regulars Somewhere; van literatuurkritiek via koffie naar niet-bestaande liedjes van Rolling Stones, zo grillig kan het zijn in 101 woorden.

Of neem. De gedeelde sterfdatum van Shakespeare en Cervantes. Wat Rios’ zich daar zoal bij afvraagt en voorstelt. In hoe weinig woorden kan een schrijver een karakter tot leven brengen? Een boom valt in het bos, een latino hoort het – folklore. Een boom valt in het bos, een gringo hoort het – onweerlegbare waarheid. Een boom valt in het bos, een kikker hoort het – stil trauma. Honderd? Leunend tegen je boekenkast, dromend dat je wordt verpletterd door boeken. Drieëntwintig? Alles scheef, alles plat gemaakt door de hielen van de tijd. Zeven? Alles verspreid, alles uitgespuwd door de hielen van de tijd. Het Hopeloze Romantische Redundantie Departement. Tien? 23 april 1616.

Soms werken de honderdenéén woorden echter tegen hem: enkele hoofdstukken / prozagedichten blijven wat hermetisch; iets meer uitleg zou hier en daar best welkom zijn geweest. Maar misschien zit dat ook in Salinas’ onnavolgbare taalgebruik. Bijtertjes voor tanden, “fudge” voor “fuck”, probeert hij lullig te zijn of past dit in de eisen die een schrijver aan de taal moet stellen van zodra hij zichzelf een grens stelt?

Wat maakt het uit? The Dream Life Of Larry Rios is hoe dan ook ee uniek boek. Soms moet een schrijver zich klaarblijkelijk een grens stellen om waarlijk welsprekend te zijn.

Alex Z. Salinas The Dream Life of Larry Rios

The Dream Life of Larry Rios

  • Auteur: Alex Z. Salinas (Verenigde Staten)
  • Soort boek: Amerikaanse roman
  • Uitgever: FlowerSong Press
  • Verschenen: 23 oktober 2025
  • Omvang: 318 pagina’s
  • Uitgave: paperback
  • Prijs: $ 18.95
  • Boek bestellen >

Flaptekst van de Alex Z. Salinas debuutroman

Larry Rios, Chicano poet extraordinaire, has a crick in the neck, a bone to pick with literature, a sword-swallowing frog named Yuks on the brain and a murder under his belt, possibly. Then there’s The Snake-Haired Lady, who won’t seem to go away. And don’t get ol’ Larry started on his ex—it’s a sad, funny story narrated in 101-word chapters. Wait. Is “Larry Rios” his real name? Does he know Jeet Kune Do? Is The Dream Life of Larry Rios some highbrow metaphysical caper? Dear reader, yesterday’s in the bag and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so just read the book, okay?

Alex Z. Salinas was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and lives in San Antonio. His fiction and poetry have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net Anthology. Salinas earned an M.A. in English Literature and Language as a Distinguished Graduate from St. Mary’s University. He is the author of four volumes of poetry and a book of stories. His poetry collections include WARBLES (2019); DREAMT, or The Lingering Phantoms of Equinox (2020); Hispanic Sonnets (2023); and Trash Poems (2023). His short-story collection, City Lights From the Upside Down (2021), was included in the National Book Critics Circle’s Critical Notes. For DREAMT, Salinas received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews.

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Jennifer Niven Meet the Newmans review and information of the content of the novel by the American writer. MacMillan will publish the new Jennifer Niven novel, on January 15, 2026. 

Jennifer Niven Meet the Newmans reviews

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Jennifer Niven Meet the Newmans

Meet the Newmans

No family is perfect

  • Author: Jennifer Niven (United States)
  • Book type: American novel
  • Publisher: Pan Macmillan
  • To be released: 15 January 2026
  • Length: 400 pages
  • Format: hardcover / ebook / audiobook
  • Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the new Jennifer Niven novel

Los Angeles, 1964.

For two decades, Del and Dinah Newman and their sons, Guy and Shep, have ruled television as America’s Favourite Family. Millions of viewers tune in every week to watch them play flawless, black-and-white versions of themselves. But now the Sixties are in full swing, and the Newmans’ perfection suddenly feels woefully out of touch.

Ratings are in free fall, as are the Newmans themselves. Del is keeping an explosive secret from his wife, and Dinah is slowly going numb. Steady, stable Guy is hiding the truth about his love life, and rock ‘n’ roll idol Shep may finally be in real trouble.

When Del is in a mysterious car accident, Dinah decides to take matters into her own hands. She hires Juliet Dunne, an outspoken young reporter, to help her write the final episode. But Dinah and Juliet have wildly different perspectives about what it means to be a woman, and a family, in 1964 America.

Can Dinah Newman bring her family together to change television history? Or will she be cancelled before she ever had the chance?Maybe it’s time for perfection to fall out of style…

Jennifer Niven was 14 May 1968 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ze is an American author of thirteen books, fiction and nonfiction, including All the Bright Places, which she also adapted for film. Her award-winning books have been translated into more than seventy-five languages and have sold upward of 3.5 million copies worldwide. Jennifer has loved television and film her whole life and has been lucky enough to develop projects with Netflix, Sony, ABC and Warner Bros. She divides her time between coastal Georgia and Los Angeles with her husband and literary cat.

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Sara Levine The Hitch reviews

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Sara Levine The Hitch

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  • Length: 304 pages
  • Format: hardcover / ebook
  • Prize: $ 27.00
  • Order book from: Amazon

Blurb of the novel by Sara Levine

From the author of the cult classic Treasure Island!!!, a delightfully unhinged comedy following a woman as she attempts to exorcise the spirit of a dead corgi from her nephew and renegotiate the borders of her previously rational world.

Rose Cutler defines herself by her exacting standards. As an anti-racist, Jewish secular feminist eco-warrior, she is convinced she knows the right way to do everything, including parent her six-year-old nephew Nathan. When Rose offers to look after him while his parents visit Mexico for a week, her brother and sister-in-law reluctantly agree, provided she understands the rules—routine, bedtime, homework—and doesn’t overstep. But when Rose’s Newfoundland attacks and kills a corgi at the park, Nathan starts acting strangely: barking, overeating, talking to himself. Rose mistakes this behavior as repressed grief over the corgi’s death, but Nathan insists he isn’t grieving, and the dog isn’t dead. Her soul leaped into his body, and now she’s living inside him. Now Rose must banish the corgi from her nephew before the week ends and his parents return to collect their child.

With the ferocious absurdity of Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch and the dark, brazen humor of Melissa Broder’s Death Valley, The Hitch is a tantalizingly bizarre novel about loneliness, bad boundaries, and the ill-fated strategy of micromanaging everything and everyone around you.

Sara Levine is the author of the novel Treasure Island!!! and the short story collection Short Dark Oracles. Her essays, stories, and aphorisms have appeared in various magazines including The Iowa ReviewNerveConjunctionsNecessary FictionSonora Review, and others. She holds a PhD in English from Brown University and teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.

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Robert Plunket Love Junkie reviews and information

Whenever a review of Love Junkie, the 1992 new novel by the American writer Robert Plunket, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.

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Robert Plunket Love Junkie

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  • Publisher reissue: Penguin Modern Classics
  • To be released: March 5, 2026
  • Length: 272 pages
  • Format: paperback / ebook
  • Prize: £ 10.99 / £ 7.99
  • Ordering options >

Blurb of the Robert Plunket novel

Mimi Smithers, forty-something housewife and aesthete manquée, has moved with her Union Carbide husband from Tehran to Westchester. Life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Joel, a dazzlingly handsome porn star. Soon she tumbles down the rabbit hole of Manhattan and Fire Island society, helping glamorous Joel with his lucrative mail order business (signed photographs, used underwear, ‘verbal abuse audiotapes’), and her real dreams and adventures begin.

A Madame Bovary for the heyday of gay New York, Love Junkie, first published in 1992, is reissued here in its full and naked glory.

Robert Plunket was born in 1945 in Greenville, Texas, but raised in Robert Plunket Love Junkie 1992 novel first editionHavana and Mexico City. After college he moved to New York and became Mr Chatterbox, the gossip columnist for Sarasota Magazine. He has published two novels, My Search for Warren Harding (1983) and Love Junkie (1992). He is retired and lives in a trailer park in Englewood, Florida, where he enjoys collecting old quilts and raising succulents from scratch.

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Gabriel Tallent – Crux

Gabriel Tallent Crux review and information of the content of new novel by the American writer. Penguin Fig Tree will publish the second Gabriel Tallent novel on February 5, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Gabriel Tallent Crux reviews

  • “Profound and stunning … It will make you question yourself and every one of your beliefs.” (Liz Nugent, author)
  • “One of the best novels I’ve ever read about friendship between a young man and a young woman … Exciting and tension filled.” (Stephen King)
  • “A breathtaking, thrilling and unforgettable story of friendship, of hopes and dreams against a reality so harsh it broke my hear.” (Chris Whitaker)

Gabriel Tallent Crux

Crux

  • Author: Gabriel Tallent (United States)
  • Book type: American novel
  • Publisher: Penguin Fig Tree
  • To be released: February 5, 2026
  • Length: 368 pages
  • Format: hardback /  ebook / audiobook
  • Prize: £ 18.99 /  £ 8.99 /  £ 16.00
  • Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the secons Gabriel Tallent novel

A heartstopping story of friendship, thrill-seeking and defying expectations: the explosive second novel from the bestselling author of My Absolute Darling.

Dan and Tamma are two Californian teenagers growing up dirt poor in the shadows of the Joshua Tree National Park, one of the world’s great rock climbing meccas. Their mothers had once been teenage waitresses and best friends until their paths diverged. Now Dan’s mother spends her days locked in her room, her dreams squandered and all her hopes pinned on getting her precociously clever son out of town and away to university.

Tamma’s mother holds no such ambition for her mouthy, snaggle-toothed, truant-playing, queer younger daughter, who everyone but Dan believes to be a troublemaker and no-hoper. But Tamma and Dan are fuelled by dreams of becoming legendary rock climbers, of devoting their lives to summiting the most challenging climbs and defying all the expectations, both good and bad, that others have for them.

Climbing, each morning at sun-up, on cliff faces that test their bodies to the limit, is where their friendship is forged. It’s also the one thing that gives them hope. But as their final year of high school unfolds and their climbs become ever more dangerous, and their home lives ever more extreme, it’s inevitable that something is going to snap.

Gabriel Tallent was born in 1987 in New Mexico and raised on the Mendocino coast by two mothers. He received his B.A. from Willamette University in 2010, and after graduation spent two seasons leading youth trail crews in the backcountry of the Pacific Northwest. In 2027 his debut novel My Absolute Darling was published. Tallent lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and three children.

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