Tag: book

Book Covers, News

See the cover for Magic in the Land of Eternal Spring by Jared Lemus

by AdamLeave a Comment on See the cover for Magic in the Land of Eternal Spring by Jared Lemus
See the cover for Magic in the Land of Eternal Spring by Jared Lemus

Jared Lemus’s debut novel, Magic in the Land of Eternal Spring, is a suspenseful, mythic story about survival, devotion, greed, and the inescapable pull of the past. In the remote Guatemalan town of Huecotenango, outcasts and wanderers have built lives alongside residents with extraordinary abilities, including a woman who can shapeshift into a jaguar, a healer who absorbs the ailments of others, and a young woman indebted to the god of the underworld. When two brothers arrive after a crash on the outskirts of town, their illicit work threatens to disrupt the community and sets its residents on a dangerous collision course.

Lemus is the author of Guatemalan Rhapsody, which won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Story, and elsewhere. Magic in the Land of Eternal Spring will be published by Ecco on April 20, 2027.

Debutiful is honored to reveal Magic in the Land of Eternal Spring’s cover, designed by Vivian Rowe, along with a Q&A with Lemus about its creation.

Continue reading “See the cover for Magic in the Land of Eternal Spring by Jared Lemus” →
book list

Five Novels Written by Women Featuring Feminine Rage, recommended by Isabelle Spotts

by AdamLeave a Comment on Five Novels Written by Women Featuring Feminine Rage, recommended by Isabelle Spotts
Five Novels Written by Women Featuring Feminine Rage, recommended by Isabelle Spotts

Feminine rage is a hot term as of late. While it may seem like a timely publishing trend, there’s nothing new or trendy about the concept—except perhaps the prevalence of novels continuing to explore the topic, for which I am very grateful. The brutality of the female experience—the undoing and eventual reclamation of women who have been figuratively crushed under societal pressures, or who face literal harm simply for existing and then respond in kind—is as evergreen as the struggles themselves. My debut novel, Saint Delilah, has a strong dose of female rage. It’s a good for her revenge story that follows a young woman who was tragically murdered by a man who believed a girl like her would never be missed. Delilah returns as a ghost to reclaim what is rightfully hers—an afterlife—and the story does not shy away from the very real danger of being a woman subject to the male gaze. Here are five novels that tell the stories of women who refuse to back down, who go a little rightfully crazy, and who find themselves enraged.

Continue reading “Five Novels Written by Women Featuring Feminine Rage, recommended by Isabelle Spotts” →
Interviews

When Harry Met Sally Met Marguerite Duras: Inside the Mind of Annie Lord, Author of The Project

by AdamLeave a Comment on When Harry Met Sally Met Marguerite Duras: Inside the Mind of Annie Lord, Author of The Project
When Harry Met Sally Met Marguerite Duras: Inside the Mind of Annie Lord, Author of The Project

Annie Lord has served as British Vogue’s dating columnist and previously wrote a darkly comic memoir about the demise of her five-year relationship. So it’s no surprise that she knows all the romcom tropes and subverts them with aplomb in her fiction debut The Project. The novel reads as a modern Pygmalion in reverse, with best friends Daisy and Maya pledging to emotionally, culturally, and stylistically make-over their laddy friend James. It’s all too easy to connect with these funny, flawed characters—likewise with Lord, even over email and across six time zones. Her responses to my questions—covering everything from her favorite Marguerite Duras quote to how to write a good bad sex scene—were candid and charming. No doubt she’d make a great romcom heroine.

Continue reading “When Harry Met Sally Met Marguerite Duras: Inside the Mind of Annie Lord, Author of The Project” →
Interviews

Devyn Defoe on Burnside, Lemony Snicket, and Writing the End Times

by Adam1 Comment on Devyn Defoe on Burnside, Lemony Snicket, and Writing the End Times
Devyn Defoe on Burnside, Lemony Snicket, and Writing the End Times

In Burnside, Devyn Defoe paints an end-of-days portrait of two young women in California that manages to make you laugh, break your heart, and double-check that you’re actually awake and not in some absurdist hallucination. Referred to as a “signature chronicle of our American endtimes” by author Chang-rae Lee, Defoe’s unforgettable characters navigate patriarchy, climate crises, and a whole host of issues for which we can thank late-stage capitalism. 

I sat down with Devyn Defoe to discuss how Burnside came to be, the enduring influence of Lemony Snicket, and the endless rewards of bookselling. 

Continue reading “Devyn Defoe on Burnside, Lemony Snicket, and Writing the End Times” →
Interviews

Stacey Yu on Love, Magic, and Coming of Age in New York City

by AdamLeave a Comment on Stacey Yu on Love, Magic, and Coming of Age in New York City
Stacey Yu on Love, Magic, and Coming of Age in New York City

Kitten by Stacey Yu, one of Debutiful’s Most Anticipated Debut Books, follows protagonist Katie, who is fresh out of university and desperate not to enter the adult world quite yet. When she goes to the Hamptons with her boyfriend James, she becomes instantly enamored with his cat Silver. 

Across Katie’s dynamics with James and Silver, we understand the wound of her upbringing: her enmeshment with her mother, her anxious attachment, and her tendency to seek what is familiar over what is healthy or good. In Silver, she sees the potential for the eternal and pure childhood that she so craves, but she also knows that this desire is impossible.

Katie wants to be both left alone and folded into the world. She wants to be free of responsibility but she also wants to have purpose and grounding. Ultimately, she has to set herself (and Silver) free from these impossible oppositions, and choose a path forward. 

Stacey and I spoke about how this tender coming-of-age novel came to be, and the redemptive quality of small, simple choices. The conversation below has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Continue reading “Stacey Yu on Love, Magic, and Coming of Age in New York City” →
Interviews

How Andrea Uptmor’s The New People Reimagines Home, Loss, and Belonging

by AdamLeave a Comment on How Andrea Uptmor’s The New People Reimagines Home, Loss, and Belonging
How Andrea Uptmor’s The New People Reimagines Home, Loss, and Belonging

The lives of two families collide in a most intriguing and shocking way in Andrea Uptmor’s darkly delightful debut novel, The New People. Faced with foreclosure and falling victim to the ruse of a real estate scammer, Charlotte and Dirk Deniison lose the place they called home faster than they can gather their belongings. The new owners, Emma and Rachel, settle into the house and what should’ve been a new start to an easy new life, only to discover that things aren’t always what they seem. The New People is a deeply moving novel that explores themes of love, loss, and community, and what it really means to feel at home.

Andrea Uptmor is a writer and editor who received her MFA in Fiction at the University of Minnesota. Her short fiction has been published in McSweeney’s, PANK, and The Masters Review, among others.

Continue reading “How Andrea Uptmor’s The New People Reimagines Home, Loss, and Belonging” →
Interviews

The Many Lives of Lizzie Buehler: Translation, Medicine, and The Obsessed

by AdamLeave a Comment on The Many Lives of Lizzie Buehler: Translation, Medicine, and The Obsessed
The Many Lives of Lizzie Buehler: Translation, Medicine, and The Obsessed

There’s a distinct thrill in reading a novel that makes you feel seen, mocked, and entirely transfixed. Lizzie Buehler’s The Obsessed does exactly that, delivering a sharp-witted and offbeat tale of obsession that I devoured in less than twenty-four hours. Adam of Debutiful calls the novel “sad, weird, and horny,” and I imagine most readers will relate to Astrid, the novel’s endearingly neurotic heroine, as she projects her literary and romantic obsessions onto real people.

I had a blast chatting with Buehler about the glorious voyeurism of autofiction, giving yourself permission to drop out of a PhD program, navigating the relentless pressure to produce, and the refreshing collaborative spirit of the international translation community.

Continue reading “The Many Lives of Lizzie Buehler: Translation, Medicine, and The Obsessed” →