When I sit down to make this list, I start with a blank Word document and start listing the books I’ve read that just pop into my head. These are the ones I can’t stop thinking about. The writers who did something special. The books that transported me, taught me, seduced me, and entertained me. Some of these titles, I read in 2025. They’ve stuck with me for one reason or another. I attempted to pick 26 titles; one book for every week of the year between January 1 and June 30. I ended up with 30 and still left off titles that could have easily made it onto a Best Of. In fact, I bet they’re on other lists and are already longlisted for some major awards. There are also some titles I haven’t gotten around to yet that I wouldn’t be surprised to see on Debutiful’s yearly Best Of list in November.
The list features some debut-ish writers. Fiction debuts from poets or nonfiction writers. Also, I should note that this list consists entirely of fiction and poetry. I didn’t mean for that to happen. There are great nonfiction debuts, but Debutiful has always favored fiction. It’s just what I cover the most. A specific list of Best Nonfiction Debut Books of 2026 (So Far) will be released soon.
In the meantime, enjoy this list of novels, story collections, and poetry. I hope you find a new favorite writer.
The Age of Calamities by Senaa Ahmad – Henry Holt
Read our Inside the Collection Q&A with Ahmad.
From the publisher: Written by an inimitable new voice, The Age of Calamities is a genre-defying, mind-bending collection of absurdist, funny, and speculative short stories.
What others are saying: “Senaa Ahmad’s stories are dazzlingly inventive. . . .These stories make it clear how ancient history and myths still linger in contemporary life—but also propose the radical possibility that we may yet escape or alter old patterns and old wounds.” –Kelly Link, award-winning author of The Book of Love and White Cat, Black Dog
If you want a taste of Ahmad’s writing, read “Let’s Play Dead”. Ahmad bends genre but not in a “oh this is a genre-bending mash-up.” She plays with tropes and structure in a brilliant way. Each story is a masterpiece.
All Them Dogs by Djamel White – Riverhead
Read an excerpt from All Them Dogs.
From the publisher: A young Irish gangster is caught in a brutal dance between desire and loyalty
What others are saying: “All Them Dogs is all that— a book you inhale, devour, grapple with, and reel from more than read. A coming-of-age novel for an age that comes breathing down the back of your neck. The kind of book where everything is on the edge of a knife and where love, like death, is either a kiss or a bullet away.” – Marlon James, author of the Booker Prize-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings
One of the most moving and cinematic novels I have experienced. It’s a crime novel that doesn’t feel like a crime novel. White packs an emotional punch with every sentence, and does so with such propulsion. It felt like a rollercoaster going through Dublin.
All This Want (And I Can’t Get None) by T Clark – One World
Learn more about All This Want‘s cover design.
From the publisher: A piercing short story collection that explores the feverish hunger and dizzying pleasure of girlhood and queer coming-of-age in a small town, from an acclaimed emerging writer
What others are saying: “An ode to Black girlhood in all its forms, each story its own messy, hilarious, profound illustration of desire, friendship, the masks we put on, and the ways we learn to love. T Clark has written a short story collection for the ages.”—Leila Mottley, author of The Girls Who Grew Big
I may not look like the girls in this collection, but I needed this. The world needs T Clark’s writing. Clark peels back the layers of their characters, making them dazzle. Each story is as riotous as it is endearing.
Bloodfire, Baby by Eirinie Carson – Dutton
Listen to our podcast conversation with Carson on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: A maternal gothic tale of new motherhood and the torment of a centuries-old haunting
What others are saying: “A stunning feat of artistry—BLOODFIRE, BABY is a searing meditation on contemporary motherhood, written with the precision of a surgeon. Carson writes with unflinching honesty, capturing both the beauty and the burden of memory and the delicate unraveling of family myth.” —Dionne Irving, author of The Islands
Isn’t all parenthood a gothic horror? This one reminded me of a mashup of Nightbitch, The Nursery, and House of Beth. It is a roaring book about the psychological and physiological highs and lows of motherhood.
The Body Builders by Albertine Clarke – Bloomsbury
Read our conversation with Clarke.
From the publisher: For readers of Megan Nolan and Sheila Heti, a mesmerizing Borgesian literary debut about the frayed borders between our bodies and minds.
What others are saying: “An exciting and remarkably controlled debut using a brilliant sci-fi conceit to tell a story about estrangement, selfhood, and love.” —Catherine Lacey, author of THE MÖBIUS BOOK
Clarke has a masterful grasp of quiet and subtle characterization and mood. Clarke looks inward into her characters, and I desperately want to learn more about them.
Cat Love by Tomás Q. Morín – Pantheon
Read our conversation with Morin.
From the publisher: A contemporary dystopian elegy narrated by a cat imprisoned in a Schrödinger’s box, by the prizing-winning poet and memoirist whose writing “cuts to the core with electrifying force” (The Free-Lance Star).
What others are saying: “The cat at the center of this daring novel might be trapped in a Schrödinger’s box but her consciousness is thrillingly unbounded, spiky, unafraid to wrestle with the epic questions. Cat Love bounds between comedy and tragedy, as our tenacious and hilarious heroine struggles to comprehend a bewildering new reality and grieves a stolen life. Tomás Q. Morín has written a wondrous, original, and singularly moving novel.” —Laura van den Berg, author of State of Paradise
Poet and memoirist Morín’s first novel smashed expectations. Throwing around the word ‘perfect’ when discussing art feels hyperbolic, but Morín finds perfection in humor and vibes. Come for the cats, stay for the pitch-perfect prose.
Close Relationships With Strangers by Krista Diamond – Simon & Schuster
From the publisher: Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler meets Ryan Gosling in Drive, Close Relationships with Strangers follows a Las Vegas wildlife photographer who moves to Los Angeles to become a paparazzo and in the process loses his relationships, his morals, and eventually his tether to reality.
What others are saying: “Krista Diamond beautifully depicts Ben, a paparazzo at the end of the golden age of tabloid photography, as he is drawn into the liminal zone between illusion and delusion. She’s captured the uncanny solitude of Las Vegas and Los Angeles, both cities in the American west that loom as simulacra in popular imagination, with an undercurrent of nostalgia for the recent past in this story of a loner obsessively pursuing his already anachronistic calling; it’s reminiscent of the noir stories of Raymond Chandler and Nathaniel West, and the mood it evokes has stayed with me a very long time.” —Maile Chapman, author of Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto
I’ve been more obsessed with celebrity culture than I care to admit. I felt seen by Diamond. There’s an ineffable tension to the writing in this book that Diamond lets readers traverse across a tightrope.
The Disappointment by Scott Broker – Catapult
Read our conversation with Broker.
From the publisher: Set during a doom-fated vacation to the Oregon coast, The Disappointment follows a couple trying to hold close to one another while a bent reality—warped by personal losses and an ever-increasing drift toward the surreal—threatens to unravel them
What others are saying: “The Disappointment is a startlingly acute portrayal of the joys and heartbreak of loving someone over time. I can’t remember when I’ve read a debut novel stitched with such humane insight. The Disappointment’s fraying couple is so vulnerable, smart, funny, and real, I never wanted to leave their company. Scott Broker is a writer to watch.” —Marie-Helene Bertino, author of Beautyland
Broker allows raw emotions to flow out of his two main characters, Randy and Jack, with grace. Both are artists of varying success, seeking to fill different voids. This is a masterclass in human dynamics. All I ever want in a novel is to feel brought into the lives of the characters I am reading about, and this novel is fully lived-in.
Escape! by Stephen Fishbach – Dutton
Listen to our podcast conversation with Fishbach on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: A propulsive debut novel following a has-been reality TV star and a disgraced producer who get one last shot at redemption on a show set on a remote island, only to discover that the plot twists are beyond what they ever imagined.
What others are saying: “A thrilling, emotionally affecting deep dive into the perilous world of reality television production, in all its manipulative glory. In this sharp page-turner, Survivor maven and former contestant Stephen Fishbach captures the lives of both cast and crew, offering up a gorgeously written, compassionate, but ultimately devastating portrait of the lives of the human beings working inside (and often, crushed by) the entertainment machine.” —Emily Nussbaum, author of Cue The Sun: The Invention of Reality TV and Staff Writer at The New Yorker
This is the Great American Reality TV Book we’ve been waiting for. Yes, it’s thrilling, but the best parts about it are the interiority of the characters, including players on the show and the producers behind-the-scenes. This isn’t just a reality TV novel from a guy who was on a reality TV show. This is a novel that perfectly blends beautiful literary prose with page-turning pace.
The Fountain by Casey Scieszka – Harper
Listen to our podcast conversation with Scieszka on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: A propulsive and deeply moving novel about eternity and mortality that asks what it would mean to live forever.
What others are saying: “Casey Scieszka’s The Fountain is a meditation on beauty, nature, and what in our lives can be bought and sold (and at what cost). Hilarious yet tender, Scieszka’s alluring voice shines on the page as she guides us through the joys and pains of never growing old amongst the majestic landscape of the Catskills. Here is a page-turner of a novel that is book club-ready, a frothy combination of magical realism, the foibles of modern life, an examination of the influence of big tech, along with a wallop of small town heart.” – Isaac Fitzgerald, New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts
I had an existential crisis reading this book. What do we do in the face of our own mortality? What is life about? Scieszka’s novel isn’t doom and gloom – it’s quite cozy, which is all I ever am really after in life. But she tackles existential questions with such warmth and intelligence. A truly outstanding novel.
Girl’s Girl by Sonia Feldman – The Dial Press
From the publisher: A hypnotic debut about the pivotal summer that shatters the delicate balance between three best friends
From the publisher: “An extraordinary book about friendships, first lust, and other quiet terrors. Full of longing and many different kinds of love.”—Frances Cha, author of If I Had
Summer leaps off every page in Feldman’s carefully crafted coming-of-age novel. So many teenage novels capture the moments, but Feldman captures the essence of when the world seems limitless, and your mistakes are equally catastrophic as they are meaningless. Feldman simply gets it.
Harmless by Miranda Shulman – Dutton
Listen to our podcast with Shulman on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: A twisty novel of sisterhood, friendship, and obsession that asks: Can we ever really outrun what haunts us most?
What others are saying: “Miranda Shulman’s glorious, original debut Harmless is a beautifully observed zeitgeist novel set in Park Slope; it’s also a hilarious, painful look at young adulthood, sibling rivalry, friendship, competition, love, and loss—with a shocking twist. The young women in Shulman’s world are the vivid, messy, unforgettable characters everyone will be talking about. This is a fantastic debut you don’t want to miss.” —Karen E. Bender, author of The Words of Dr. L and the National Book Award finalist Refund
I can never tire of a group of friends navigating life. Shulman does it with such a keen eye, turning the mundane into the hilarious. The voices of each character are so distinct and original. This is a book with a big heart.
Hemlock by Melissa Faliveno – Little Brown
Read Faliveno’s My Reading Life Q&A.
From the publisher: A woman haunted by a dark inheritance returns to the woods where her mother vanished, in this queer Gothic novel.
What others are saying: “Gorgeous and surprising, Hemlock’s propulsive plot is fueled by equal parts Midwestern dread and Midwestern love, a combination my own Midwestern heart recognizes as home. Faliveno sets her exploration of the complicated, compelling legacies of family and place amid a great and beautiful landscape I’ve loved all my life, but that I’ve maybe never seen as vividly as I do right now, after having been shown it anew through Faliveno’s evocative prose. A spectacular debut.”–Matt Bell, author of Appleseed
Faliveno’s Tomboyland is one of my favorite nonfiction books ever. When I heard Hemlock was coming out, I put everything on pause, got a copy, and devoured it. She captures the struggles with alcohol dependencies in such a real way. The atmosphere of the Wisconsin woods propels this book to great new heights. Faliveno is a master of character and scene.
Hope House by Joe Bond – Hub City
Read our conversation with Bond.
From the publisher: Set in 1980s Kentucky, this striking debut novel is told from inside a treatment home for troubled teenagers, where lost boys become more than their pasts and dare to imagine different futures.
What others are saying: “I had the great pleasure of picking Bond’s amazing short story for an award years ago, and what a thrill it is to see how it’s grown into a beautiful novel of such tender frankness, building the lives of this group of kids with bottomless care and a fiercely keen eye for detail and movement.” –Aimee Bender, author of The Butterfly Lampshade
Bone delivers hope in the darkness of times. His compassion for his characters is undeniable, and there is so much heart packed in these pages where he writes with such grace and beauty.
I Am the Ghost Here by Kim Samek – The Dial Press
Read our Inside the Collection Q&A with Samek.
From the publisher: Twelve women confront the mounting existential terrors of modern life in this absurd, wryly hilarious debut story collection.
What others are saying: “The pages of I Am the Ghost Here are as electric as a live wire: dangerous in the most thrilling possible way. The world of these stories isn’t quite like ours—but is it any more absurd than the one we’re in, honestly? You might start a story thinking you’re reading about, say, a woman who’s turned into scrambled eggs; you’ll end it realizing that, all along, you were reading about yourself.”—Vauhini Vara, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of This Is Salvaged
I don’t think any short story collection provided banger after banger like Samek’s debut collection does. Reading her work is such a thrilling delight. Dive into her Pushcart-winning story “Easement” to tie you over until this book is released. A contender for the Best Short Story Collection of the Decade.
I Could Be Famous by Sydney Rende – Bloomsbury
Read Rende’s My Reading Life Q&A.
From the publisher: From a magnetic new voice in fiction “made for this moment and for those coming of age within it” (Jonathan Dee), a debut story collection following ten ambitious women and one male superstar as they pursue their desires–however deluded–for more.
What others are saying: “A terrific debut: fresh, original, and surprising. Eleven fast, sharp, funny stories laced with a deep understanding of the corrosive effect our fame-hungry attention economy has on real connection between people. Rende is such a witty, engaging writer, with an intuitive understanding that the short story is in the world to delight, engage, and enlarge the reader.” —George Saunders, Booker Prize-winning author of LINCOLN IN THE BARDO
The stories are easy in all the right ways – easy to laugh, easy to love, easy to want to re-read – and challenging in alll the right ways. Rende writes about women in such a smart way, allowing their strengths and flaws to shine equally.
Maybe the Body by Asa Drake – Tin House
Read our conversation with Drake.
From the publisher: A brilliant debut poetry collection by National Poetry Series finalist Asa Drake that explores the lineage and future lineage of a body shaped by economic, ecological, and political dissonance.
What others are saying: “‘Sometimes, history is too beautiful to be believed,’ Asa Drake writes in her collection Maybe the Body, which is an extensive love song of memory, family, self, and the challenges of differentiating one from the other. When a speaker wades in a river that runs beneath an interstate, they think of a mother’s words: ‘Care first. Decide about love later.’ This book is about places and homes: ones we don’t want to lose, ones we find in others, and those we must decide to build for ourselves. Maybe the Body is the home I have longed for.”—Phillip B. Williams, author of Mutiny and Ours
Thought-provoking through and through. Reading these poems was like watching a ballet. At first, you know they’re beautiful, but the more you sit with them, the more you find intricate ways they are truly genius.
The Memory Museum by M Lin – Graywolf
Listen to our podcast conversation with Lin on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: With daring political and creative commitment, The Memory Museum brims with joy even as Lin exposes the knife’s edge between powerlessness and agency, pain and intimacy, our memories and our futures.
What others are saying: “The Memory Museum is a book to get very excited about. With gumption and pizzazz M Lin can seemingly take any form, genre, or style and make it do whatever she wants, always something unexpected. But under all the technical brilliance are the timeless literary subjects: love, death, money, family, and mind-blowing sex with some random guy.”—Tony Tulathimutte, author of Rejection
M Lin can do things with the short story that no other writer can do. This collection is a masterclass in structure, character, plot, and pace. If you’re looking to learn how to write short stories, read Lin’s collection.
Murder Bimbo by Rebecca Novack – Avid Reader
Read Novack’s My Reading Live Q&A.
From the publisher: The exhilaratingly twisty story of a sex worker turned political assassin on the run, Murder Bimbo is an unputdownable and wholly fresh take on truth, murder, and optics in our national moment.
What others are saying: “Murder Bimbo is an ingeniously structured prism: at first look it plays satirically on true crime sensationalism, at second, it flays the political moment of grift, greed, and exploitation, and finally, it contemplates the desperate and lasting things we do for love. At all levels, it is a blast.” —Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby
Honestly? The title and cover sucked me right in. Murder Bimbo is unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s as unhinged as you can imagine and the best thing you could do is read it without reading any reviews or publicity copy. Just dive in and experience the thrill of Novack’s work.
Names Have Been Changed by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow – Tiny Reparations
From the publisher: After ten years on the run around the world, Ophir—not her real name—comes clean in a confessional podcast about her life as a fugitive, charming countless fans even as she risks her freedom.
What others are saying: “Names Have Been Changed is a spiky, smart story about an itinerant Singaporean ex-con who yearns above all, to return. It’s a book about displacement, friendship, diaspora, love, and criminal enterprise, but above all, the gasping need for connection, when home is out of reach.” —Vanessa Chan, international bestselling author of The Storm We Made
I first read Balasingamchow’s book last July, and I have been thinking about it ever since. Ophir is one of the most memorable characters to jump off the page and the inevitable Hollywood adaptation will have actresses chomping at the bit to play this role.. Names Have Been Changed is crackling with energy.
New Skin by Sarah Wang – Little Brown
Read Wang’s My Reading Life Q&A.
From the publisher: A scalding, darkly humorous debut following an enmeshed mother-daughter duo, both best friends and enemies, and the plastic surgery addiction that warps their lives into a perilous spiral
What others are saying: “New Skin offers a brilliantly dark account of a mother and her daughter locked in a relationship with each other and the wider world that no amount of surgery can cure. Sarah Wang’s novel is intense, engaging, original and hilarious.”–Colm Tóibín, New York Times bestselling author of Long Island
Navigating relationships with your parents gets harder the older you get. In Wang’s book, she adds a layer of bite to it and brings comedy to the cringe as they become obsessed with their looks. And changing them.
No God But Us by Bobuq Sayed – Harper
Listen to our podcast conversation with Sayed on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: In this wry, provocative debut, two gay Afghan men—cast out of their respective countries of birth by circumstances beyond their control—collide in Istanbul, a city that will test their willingness to sacrifice everything for the ones they love.
What others are saying: “I can’t remember the last time I was so moved by a book. Bobuq Sayed’s No God but Us asks what might happen to one’s consciousness when it’s mangled by the forces of empire. The deeply felt and irreverent story traces two Quixotic journeys through personal pain, faith, exile, and queer self-discovery, all the way from the Afghan refugee community in Tehran to the suburbs of Northern Virginia. At its heart, this is a novel about family––chosen and not––and I am lucky to count this story among my literary kin. This book is simply necessary, and very gorgeous.” – Aria Aber, author of Good Girl
Sayed moved me to my core. Sayed’s emotional intelligence provides a strong backbone to a tender story. It questions why we love the way we do, and how place shapes and reshapes us. Reading this made me feel smarter.
The Oldest Bitch Alive by Morgan Day – Astra House
From the publisher: A polyphonic debut following an aging French bulldog and the parasitic worms that send her toward death — a singular, sly novel about form, freedom, interiors, and the matter by which we are composed and consumed.
What others are saying: “The Oldest Bitch Alive is an iridescent reminder of literature’s unique power. Morgan Day’s genius unfurls across each page, microcosm by microcosm, discovering immense depth in the gut of this small dog. Sensational, unnerving, and true.” —Henry Hoke, author of Open Throat
I’ve never read anything like this book. I went into the book without much context (not having read the publicity copy I provided above), and my jaw was on the floor on every page. I couldn’t stop reading. I needed Day’s novel more than anything. If you like to be challenged and rewarded and surprised by gorgeous writing, then this is the only novel you need.
One Leg on Earth by ‘Pemi Aguda – W.W. Norton
Listen to our podcast conversation with Aguda on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: One Leg on Earth is an ambitious novel like no other: a coming-of-age story, an uncanny exploration of motherhood, and a chilling vision of the dark side of progress.
What others are saying: A fearless work of fiction in the lineage of Toni Morrison’s Sula. ‘Pemi Aguda writes beautifully about the ways realities can break and why they sometimes should be shattered.–Megan Giddings, author of Meet Me at the Crossroads
Aguda’s debut novel is an example of perfect writing, an ambitious plot, and intricate characters. ‘Pemi Aguda has cemented herself as one of the greatest writers of this generation.
She Made Herself a Monster by Anna Kovatcheva – Mariner
Listen to our podcast conversation with Kovatcheva on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: A heady, dark-hued Gothic gem of a debut novel: in nineteenth-century Bulgaria, a self-proclaimed vampire slayer—in truth, a traveling con artist—joins forces with a teenage girl to create a monster deadly enough to vanquish their own demons.
What others are saying: “As a longtime fan of Anna Kovatcheva’s shorter fiction, this deliciously dark debut novel delivers the same dreamlike prose I’ve come to admire, but digs far deeper into labyrinths of belief, desperation, and illusions of necessity. By turns horrific, atmospheric, and tender, this is a spell book that practices the best kind of magic—revealing the monsters embedded within and around us.” – Sequoia Nagamatsu
I’ve been creeping more and more into becoming a “horror fan.” I enjoy horror, but now I think I have read enough to say this book breaks all expectations. Its beauty lies within the imagery which engulfs you and brings you deeply into nineteenth-century Bulgaria.
Squirming by Monika Ostrowska – Coffee House
Listen to our podcast conversation with Ostrowska on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: Monika Ostrowska’s provocative, plainspoken debut tracks its speaker’s intensifying sexual fantasies as they become at once more intellectualized and embodied, tracing a desperate need for enlightenment. Squirming is a primal meditation on embracing the erotic, challenging the complexities of womanhood, and bridging the chasm between self-awareness and external perception.
A raw collection that invites readers into the most intimate (and cringy) thoughts one might possibly have. There’s no holds barred with Ostrowska’s poems. It’s sexy. It’s uncomfortable. It’s mesmerizing.
They Fall In Love At The End by Haili Blassingame – Scribner
Read Blassingame’s My Reading Life Q&A.
From the publisher: Cat St. Clair is ready for her messy love triangle era now that she’s in an open relationship. But she didn’t foresee a forbidden love triangle with the only two people who are off-limits: her boyfriend’s best friend and his girlfriend. Being a twenty-something writer who lives for plot, she falls for them anyway, with deliciously disastrous consequences, in this electric literary debut for fans of Xochitl Gonzalez, Coco Mellors, Lily King, and Raven Leilani.
What others are saying: “As a satirist and fresh American voice, Blassingame is a talent to watch.” —Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal and Nev
Blassingame’s novel is pure joy. She brings the hijinks of a messy triangle that we all know and love to life, and twists expectations to hilarious results. So often, funny dosn’t land on the page. Blassingame understands comedy.
Voyagers by Meg Charlton – Harper
From the publisher: With the imaginative soul and propulsive storytelling of Station Eleven and The Ministry of Time, Voyagers is a thrillingly original and brilliantly ambitious literary debut about friendship at the end of the world.
What others are saying: “In Voyagers, Meg Charlton explores the connections between memory, storytelling, and truth. Against the backdrop of a global crisis, her characters contend with the lasting pain and confusion of a personal crisis. This novel grapples with the possibility of extraterrestrial life, but even more so with the possibility of friendship that is generous and forgiving. A delightful and moving debut.” – Helen Phillips, author of Hum and The Need
When I got my hands on an early draft of this, devoured it in less than a week. Charlton writes with such pristine propulsion and packs a punch on every page. This is going to be the book everyone loves this summer. I can’t stop thinking about Charlton’s world.
Waiting On A Friend by Natalie Adler – Hogarth
Listen to our podcast conversation with Adler on Apple or Spotify.
From the publisher: New York City, East Village, 1984. A young woman with the power to see the ghosts of her friends is haunted by the one who refuses to return—a dazzling, big-hearted debut of friendship and community during a time of devastation and defiance.
What others are saying: “Waiting on a Friend is a wildly inventive and moving novel that walks a tightrope of emotion with grace and humor. It’s both a portrait of a time and place—New York City in the early 1980s—and a testament to the challenge of carrying on in the face of devastating loss. Natalie Adler has written an astonishingly brilliant debut.”—Patrick Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of Buckeye
OH MY GOD. This is the type of book I wait all year to drop into my lap. Simply put, this is one everyone should be itching to read. Adler has her finger on the pulse of humanity, humor, and a damn good haunting plot.
Whidbey by T Kira Madden – Mariner
From the publisher: A portrait of three women connected through one man in the aftermath of his murder—a stunning literary achievement and the explosive and highly anticipated debut novel from beloved award-winning memoirist T Kira Madden.
What others are saying: “It is not enough to say that Whidbey is a masterpiece or T Kira Madden is a genius—it is, she is. But how lucky we are to have such a radically empathetic novel about pain and justice; such a rigorous, lucid accounting of the strangulation of violence and its slow, meticulous unwinding. Whidbey is an exceptional and staggering gift.” – Carmen Maria Machado, New York Times bestselling author of In the Dream House and Her Body and Other Parties
It is not an exaggeration to say I have been waiting to read this book for over half a decade. T Kira Madden’s memoir is an all-timer. And now, Whidbey is an all-timer. Madden bounces from different POVs so smooth it’s like butter. She is a master at the craft and if this is what she can do with a first novel, we’re in for a long, fun career that will define what modern literature can do.