Here are the debut books that caught Debutiful’s eye this month. We think readers will find plenty to love among them.
To see our curated list of standout titles, check out our “12 Noteworthy Debut Books You Should Read This July.”
From the publisher: Through its archive of narratives nestled within narratives, this exquisite novel creates a beguiling soundscape of echoes and murmurs that reverberates in the mind long after the reading. In lucid, captivating prose, Issa Quincy constructs a palimpsest composed of the fractals and losses that define the numberless strata of the past. Recalling the novels of W. G. Sebald and the films of Chris Marker, Absence is a mournful and luminous meditation on the work of remembering.
American Mythology by Giano Cromley
From the publisher: A charming and comic debut novel about a quirky ensemble embarking on an epic quest to find Bigfoot
Archive of Unknown Universes by Ruben Reyes Jr
From the publisher: From the critically acclaimed author of There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven, a piercing debut novel following two families in alternative timelines of the Salvadoran civil war—a stunning exploration of the mechanisms of fate, the gravity of the past, and the endurance of love.
Bitter Sweet by Hattie Williams
From the publisher: A young book publicist finds herself in an all-consuming workplace affair with her literary idol in this “very impressive debut” (Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark).
Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie
From the publisher: A theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox.
From the publisher: Set between seventeenth-century Cape Verde and contemporary London, CURANDERA is a kaleidoscopic story of rebirth and redemption, and a mythic tale of metamorphic recalibrations across time
First Time, Long Time by Amy Silverberg
From the publisher: For readers of Emma Cline and Melissa Broder, the story of an untethered, sardonic young woman falling for an older radio host… and then for his daughter.
From the publisher: The Outsiders meet Sons of Anarchy in this gripping debut about a group of young men dragged into a drug-running operation.
From the publisher: A riveting debut novel for readers of Celeste Ng and Liane Moriarty, Greenwich explores the nature of desire and complicity against the backdrop of immense wealth and privilege, the ways that whiteness and power protect their own, and the uneasy moral ambiguity of redemption.
Hot Girls with Balls by Benedict Nguyen
From the publisher: In this outrageous and deeply serious satire, two star indoor volleyball players juggle unspoken jealousies in their off-court romance ahead of their rival teams’ first rematch in a year
From the publisher: A haunting and seductive tale of a young career woman who slides quickly into the role of stepmother, in a life that may still belong to someone else. “Vivid, addictive, and crackling with life (yes, even the ghost), House of Beth asks us to consider how and why we make the lives we make” (Lynn Steger Strong).
Hunting in America by Tehila Hakimi, translated by Joanna Chen
From the publisher: An award-winning, thrillingly subversive novel about an Israeli woman who moves to America, takes up hunting, and is drawn into a world of predator, prey, and dark attraction
From the publisher: The narrator of Information Age is a journalist at an online news site reporting on technology, the economy, and politics in the late 2010s. The rate of increasingly short news cycles shapes her working life and her personal life, as she assumes the role of reporter while talking with engineers, analysts, wonks, artists, writers, musicians, friends, family, and lovers. Told in vignettes and dialogue—overheard and divulged—Information Age is spare, funny, and attentive, a playful blurring of public and private life.
From the publisher: A transformative love story about two best friends who fall for each other, fall apart, and try to find their way back together in their tight-knit British-Jamaican community.
Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu
From the publisher: Luster meets The Idiot in this riveting debut novel about a volatile friendship between two outsiders who escape their bleak childhoods and enter the glamorous early ’90s art world in New York City, where only one of them can make it.
Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee
From the publisher: 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—perfect for fans of Joan Is Okay and Crying in H Mart.
Make Your Way Home by Carrie R. Moore
From the publisher: In eleven stories that span Florida marshes, North Carolina mountains, and Southern metropolitan cities, Make Your Way Home follows Black men and women who grapple with the homes that have eluded them.
From the publisher: An eerie, hypnotic debut about friendship, desire, and memory set against the sultry backdrop of Florida’s swamplands.
From the publisher: A tender debut that follows a woman who, after her best friend’s death, loses her faith and quits her job to join the postal service, quickly becoming an ‘essential worker’ as the city shuts down.
Mother of Methadone by Melody Glenn
From the publisher: A call to remove the stigma against addicts, addiction, and treatment providers, this book brings together the stories of two doctors battling the opioid epidemic half a century apart to reveal the origins of today’s public health crisis
My Train Leaves at Three by Natalie Guerrero
From the publisher: By a striking new voice in fiction, an electric coming-of-age novel that explores grief, family, sexuality, and love as an ambitious young woman from Washington Heights tries to make it on Broadway
No Sense in Wishing by Lawrence Burney
From the publisher: An essay collection from culture critic Lawrence Burney that is a personal and analytical look at his home city of Baltimore, music from throughout the global Black diaspora, and the traditions that raised him.
From the publisher: In her debut collection, Rose Keating takes you on a bold journey through the intricacies of sex, shame, and womanhood. With ten enchanting short stories, she crafts an emotional masterpiece that challenges us to reflect on the movement and needs of our bodies. Strange yet utterly mesmerizing, Oddbody is a provocative exploration that feels both surprising and sincerely authentic.
The Other Wife by Jackie Thomas-Kennedy
From the publisher: A big-hearted novel of nostalgia and longing, and a poignant exploration of how we choose to love.
A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan
From the publisher: As World War II rages around her, a witch abandoned by her coven must journey to find a book of unspeakable power before it lands in Nazi hands
Slanting Toward the Sea by Lidija Hilje
From the publisher: Spanning twenty years and one life-altering summer in Croatia, Slanting Towards the Sea is at once an unforgettable love story and a powerful exploration of what it means to come of age in a country younger than oneself.
Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth
From the publisher: Tender and heartbreaking, Sunburn portrays the realities of growing up in a small rural town–from the long, hot summers, to the pressures of a conservative, traditional community where everyone knows each other’s business. It’ll leave you aching for your own first love.
From the publisher: Claire Jia’s debut novel is a love letter to friendship; a powder keg of impossible, interwoven desires; a siren song that explores why, even as it destroys us, we always want more.
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