From romance and sweeping family sagas to heartwarming fantasy, check out these 9 fiction debuts and find your new favorite author.
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Dip into our Fall 2024 Debut Fiction Sampler and read excerpts from even more exciting new voices in fiction.
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8 *New* Debuts to Add to Your TBR Pile:
Black Butterflies: A Novel by Priscilla Morris
A timeless story of strife and hope set during the conflict in the Balkans in the early ’90s—a searing debut novel about a woman who faces the war on her doorstep with courage, fierceness, and an unshakable belief in the power of art.
“Black Butterflies makes the case for art in times of war . . . [It] wrests beauty and hope out of suffering . . . Morris is a brilliant writer of place. Her Sarajevo is finely drawn, as vividly rendered as Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo . . . It is a work of literature that transforms horror and violence into a life force.”—Bea Setton, New York Times Book Review
“A moving, compelling, deeply human novel about love, hope, and resilience in a city under siege. Everyone should read it.”—Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters
Available in Hardcover, eBook, Audio, and Large Print Editions.
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Songs for the Brokenhearted: A Novel by Ayelet Tsabari
A young Yemeni Israeli woman learns of her mother’s secret romance in a dramatic journey through lost family stories, revealing the unbreakable bond between a mother and a daughter—the debut novel of an award-winning literary voice.
“Ayelet Tsabari has written a gorgeous, gripping novel . . . Filled with unforgettable characters, each as flawed and fully human as the next, Songs for the Brokenhearted is a gift.”—Elizabeth Graver, author of Kantika
“Ayelet Tsabari is a gorgeous and empathic writer, and her new book, Songs for the Brokenhearted, is one of the most bighearted, profound, and nuanced novels I’ve read in years . . . An incredible debut novel by a writer wise beyond her years. I loved it.”—Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans
Available September 10th in Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Love Can’t Feed You: A Novel by Cherry Lou Sy
A beautiful, tender yet searing debut novel about intergenerational fractures and coming of age, following a young woman who immigrates to the United States from the Philippines and finds herself adrift between familial expectations and her own burning desires.
“Astonishing . . . Sy skillfully lays bare Queenie’s wide-ranging emotions, from rage to sadness, and reveals the nuances of the family members’ relationships. Rich details of Filipino culture such as folk stories and religious iconography are interwoven with gritty depictions of the compromises made by the immigrant characters . . . It’s a knockout.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Available October 8th in Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Fear the Flames: A Novel by Olivia Rose Darling
An exiled princess teams up with the last man she thought she could trust in the start of a dazzling and unforgettable epic fantasy romance series.
An immersive fantasy filled with a sizzling reluctant-allies-to-lovers romance, a world to get lost in, dangerous quests, dragon bonds, and an entertaining band of characters to root for, Fear the Flames marks the stunning debut of Olivia Rose Darling.
Available September 17th in Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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The Teller of Small Fortunes: A Novel by Julie Leong
A wandering fortune teller finds an unexpected family in this warm and wonderful debut fantasy.
“If you’re running a little low on serotonin, trust me: brew yourself a hot drink, curl up with this treasure of a tale, and thank me later! It’s the warmest, loveliest book I’ve read in ages.”—Sangu Mandanna, national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
“Warm, welcoming, and endlessly inventive, The Teller of Small Fortunes feels like being invited in for tea with a dear friend (and expert storyteller!). An utter and complete delight to read.”—Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief
Available November 5th in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Olive Days: A Novel by Jessica Elisheva Emerson
A smoldering debut novel about a young mother in an Orthodox Jewish community of Los Angeles whose quest for authenticity erupts in a passionate affair following a night of wife swapping.
“Olive Days is a completely immersive novel, unlike anything I’ve read. We’re in so deep with Rina, as she navigates the complicated restraints of her Orthodox Jewish community, that every meal, every walk, every discovery of her possible choices feels immediate. Emerson’s prose is not about religion or desire, those abstract ideas, but about a woman’s burning disbelief in the very structure of her life, and her absolute insistence on sexual passion and freedom.”—Susan Straight, bestselling author of Mecca and In the Country of Women
Available September 10th in Hardcover and eBook Editions.
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Dirty Diana: A Novel by Jen Besser and Shana Feste
A deliciously provocative novel about a woman caught between the comfortable stability of her marriage and her memories of a more sensual past—the first book in a three-part series based on the #1 fiction podcast
“Diana Wood’s quest to reignite her sensual past while navigating the confines of her current marriage is funny and sexy. Dirty Diana is wildly seductive—perfect for anyone who loved The Idea of You.”—Renée Carlino, bestselling author of Before We Were Strangers and This Used to Be Us
“Too many women are made to feel that their sexuality is something dangerous, something that should be kept under wraps. Dirty Diana busts that myth wide open. Diana’s struggles will be relatable, and her awakening inspiring, to women everywhere. Dirty Diana is a deliciously entertaining, funny, tantalizing treat of a story.”—Demi Moore
Available November 19th in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Showmance: A Novel by Chad Beguelin
A down-on-his-luck Broadway playwright is marooned in rural Illinois in this sharply funny queer rom-com.
“Showmance is the most fun you’ll have off-off-off Broadway! The zingers fly, the romance sizzles, and the dialogue sparkles like the best Dom Perignon. A novel so charming it somehow bursts into song. What more could you want? Patti Lupone? She’s in here too!”—Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less and Less Is Lost
“No out of town tryouts needed here—Showmance is ready for the big time. Stage of Fools, the show within the novel, might open and close in one night, but Beguelin crafts a story you never want to end. Showmance sings.”—Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants
Available October 1st in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Shoestring Theory: A Novel by Mariana Costa
A queer, madcap, friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers time travel romance with the future of the world at stake, this charming fantasy tale is sure to satisfy fans of Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree.
Featuring a formidable great aunt, a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance, an awkward love quadrangle and a crow familiar called Ganache, this charming story is imminently easy to read and sure to satisfy fans of fanfiction who like their fantasy lite.
Available October 8th in Trade Paperback and eBook Editions.
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