Debutiful’s Adam Vitcavage recommends noteworthy debut books for readers to discover each month.
States of Emergency by Chris Knapp (Unnamed Press; September 3)
From the publisher: “That was the lesson: that what so often passed for love was mostly a desperate construct of your own vanity, a steamroller with which the self pressed the other flat until a smooth, reflective surface was all that remained…”
Knapp brings readers into a pressure cooker as a couple undergoing fertility treatment faces the truth about their love and their future. It’s taut, tense, and tender and feels wholly intimate while reflecting on relationship at large.
Still Life by Katherine Packert Burke (W.W. Norton; September 10)
From the publisher: Katherine Packert Burke’s debut novel unfolds like a rusty pocketknife, jagged and lacerating. Infused with pop culture, cigarettes, and Sondheim, Still Life traces the lives of three friends, authentic and evolving, loving and cruel, here and gone, to craft a tableau of modern womanhood.
This is a beacon of hope. Set in Texas, where trans rights are being taken away, the characters find themselves fighting for their future while struggling to confront a death in the past. Burke writes with such clarity. I felt inside this friendship and experienced the love, tension, relief, and loathing that come along with complex dynamics. It is a quintessential novel for our time and for our future.
Olive Days by Jessica Elisheva Emerson (Counterpoint; September 10)
From the publisher: A smoldering novel about an exhausted 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
Emerson’s book is a very lustful book about sex and religion. What do we want from these things? Can they coexist? Can you be yourself with both or none? The questions tackled in the book are tackled in a careful and sincere manner. A very hot book, indeed.
Next Stop by Benjamin Resnick (Avid Reader; September 10)
From the publisher: For readers of Leave the World Behind and Exit West, an astonishingly resonant novel that explores the precariousness of Jewish American life through one family after a black hole consumes the State of Israel and similar strange events occur in major cities around the world, ushering in a time of chaos as well as miracles.
Resnick offers a stellar entry into dystopian near-future fiction. The world created feels undeniable and it is filled with robust characters. It’s equally and edge-of-your seat suspense while being an internal slowburn. I’ve thought of this book every single day since finishing it.
Quarterlife by Deika Rege (Liveright; September 10)
From the publisher: “In the fashion of the big novels by Salman Rushdie or Amitav Ghosh” (Biblio), Quarterlife is a groundbreaking portrait of a nation on the cusp of a new age. When the Bharat Party comes to power after a divisive election, Naren, a jaded Wall Street consultant, is lured home to Mumbai.
A bonafide stunner. Rege’s plot and characters are outstanding. The novel starts in a smaller scope than one might expect but then blossoms into a grand view of India, politics, and friendship. Her grasp on how to keep a reader hooked is evident throughout the novel.
The Girl Who Became a Rabbit by Emilie Menzel (Hub City; September 10)
From the publisher: The Girl Who Became a Rabbit, is a book-length lyric, a dark, ruminative poem that pushes the limits of the prose-poetic form to explore how the body carries and shapes grief and what it means to tell a story.
An exquisite book-length poem that is full of fancy and thought-provoking prose. Every page is a masterclass in language. Reading this was an experience unlike any other. I need more books like Menzel’s The GIrl Who Became a Rabbit.
Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell (Simon & Schuster; September 10)
From the publisher: In a world without white people, what does it mean to be black?
Wow. Just, wow. This book was a rush to read. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I picked it up, but it offered a marvelous outlook on race, social norms, and unfair structures in our society.
Us Fools by Nora Lange (Two Dollar Radio; September 17)
From the publisher: A tragicomic, intimate American story of two precocious sisters coming of age during the Midwestern farm crisis of the 1980s.
The sisters in this book are two of my favorite characters. The two come of age with a backdrop of how capitalism can bring everything down. Lange’s cleverness and charm ooze off the page.
Frighten the Horses by Oliver Radclyffe (Roxane Gay Books; September 17)
From the publisher: A textured, sharply written memoir about coming of age in the fourth decade of one’s life and embracing one’s truest self in a world that demands gender fit in neat boxes
Beautifully written and incredibly moving. I felt honored to read this book and feel it is one that should be read by everyone to get a better sense of how we all inhabit this world.
The Lodgers by Holly Pester (Assembly Press; September 24)
From the publisher: A dark comedy about lodgings, lovers, and mother-daughter bonds that falter across time and tenancies.
Gorgeously written. I often say I really only care about language and vibes. This one delivered on both with such brilliance. It used humor in ways I don’t think I really have seen on the page before. Dark, honest, and pitch perfect.