Is there anything more nerve-racking than publishing a first novel? For authors and publishers alike, it’s a nail-biting moment of sink or swim. Here are 10 debuts from the year (so far!) that signal the start of promising careers.

THE HOUSE GIRL
By Tara Conklin
For fans of: Tracy Chevalier, Kathryn Stockett, Geraldine Brooks
First line: “Mister hit Josephine with the palm of his hand across her left cheek and it was then she knew she would run.”
About the book: The stories of a runaway slave and a modern-day lawyer intersect in a quiet, emotional and thought-provoking tale.
About the author: Conklin worked as a corporate lawyer before moving to Seattle with her husband and children to write this novel.
Read more: Interview from our February issue.

GHOSTMAN
By Roger Hobbs
For fans of: Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Dan Brown
First line: “Hector Moreno and Jerome Ribbons sat in the car on the ground level of the Atlantic Regency Hotel Casino parking garage, sucking up crystal meth with a rolled-up five spot, a lighter and a crinkled length of tin foil.”
About the book: This thrilling heist novel is full of nonstop action and includes incredible detail on everything from casino operations to armored cars—as well as an unforgettable, amoral antihero.
About the author: Just 24 years old, Hobbs finished the novel while still attending Reed College in Portland.
Read more: Interview from our February issue.

THE SUPREMES AT EARL'S ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT
By Edward Kelsey Moore
For fans of: Maeve Binchy, Terry McMillan, Fannie Flagg
First line: “I woke up hot that morning. Came out of a sound sleep with my face tingling and my nightgown stuck to my body.”
About the book: The 40-year friendship of three women from the small town of Plainview, Indiana, is celebrated in a big-hearted story that’s full of laughs—and inspired by the “smart, and interesting, and not foolish” women in Moore’s own life.
About the author: Moore was an accomplished cellist and college professor when he decided to try writing at the age of 40 (he’s now 52).
Read more: Interview from our March issue.

A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA
By Anthony Marra
For fans of: Téa Obreht, Adam Johnson, Jonathan Safran Foer
First line: “On the morning after the Feds burned down her house and took her father, Havaa woke from dreams of sea anemones.”
About the book: Set against the backdrop of the Chechen Wars, an exhausted doctor fights to protect a young girl whose father has been taken away by Russian soldiers for a crime he didn’t commit.
About the author: Currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, Marra holds an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and has lived in Eastern Europe.
Read more: Review from our May issue.

THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI
By Helene Wecker
For fans of: Susanna Clarke, Deborah Harkness, Michael Chabon
First line: “The Golem’s life began in the hold of a steamship.”
About the book: A golem, a jinni and the evil wizard that links them star in Wecker’s imaginative blend of Jewish and Arabic folklore. The supernatural characters are grounded by the novel’s detailed, vibrant setting in 1899 New York City, where immigrants and wealthy citizens mingle on teeming streets.
About the author: Wecker spent seven years working in the corporate sector before attending Columbia University’s writing program.
Read more: Interview from our May issue.

THE OTHER TYPIST
By Suzanne Rindell
For fans of: Amor Towles, Zoë Heller, M.L. Stedman
First line: “They said the typewriter would unsex us.”
About the book: Rose, a prim and proper typist working in 1920s Manhattan, forms a friendship with mysterious, fun-loving Odalie that borders on obsession. With Rose as its sly and slightly unreliable narrator, this suspenseful story will keep you guessing.
About the author: A former employee of a literary agency, Rindell is finishing up a Ph.D. in modernist literature at Rice University.
Read more: Review from our May issue.

THE EXECUTION OF NOA P. SINGLETON
By Elizabeth L. Silver
For fans of: Lionel Shriver, Gillian Flynn, John Grisham
First line: “In this world, you are either good or evil.”
About the book: We know from page one that Noa is guilty of murder. Silver’s psychologically acute narrative probes the all-important question of why—and provides a breathtaking answer.
About the author: Silver earned her legal knowledge as a judicial clerk and research attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She also has an M.A. in literature.
Read more: Review from our June issue.

THE GHOST BRIDE
By Yangsze Choo
For fans of: Lisa See, Eowyn Ivey, Jamie Ford, Erin Morgenstern
First line: “One evening, my father asked me whether I would like to become a ghost bride.”
About the book: In 1893 Malaysia, Li Lan finds herself betrothed to a ghost—and in love with another man. Her quest for freedom takes her through the land of the dead.
About the author: Choo got a degree in sociology from Harvard before launching her writing career.  
Read more: Interview in this issue.

THE FIELDS
By Kevin Maher
For fans of: Roddy Doyle, Jennifer Haigh, Nick Hornby
First line: “When Jack died I was real young, younger than I am now, and I said, in a temper, that I would never let it happen again.”
About the book: This ambitious coming-of-age story set in 1980s Dublin is told in the memorable voice of Jim Finnegan, the youngest of six in a working-class family.
About the author: From Dublin himself, Maher now lives in England and is a film critic for several papers, including the Guardian.
Read more: Review in this issue.

THE PEOPLE IN THE TREES
By Hanya Yanagihara
For fans of: Donna Tartt, Ann Patchett, Barbara Kingsolver
First line: “I was born in 1924 near Lindon, Indiana, the sort of small, unremarkable rural town that some twenty years before my birth had begun to duplicate itself, quietly but insistently, across the Midwest.”
About the book: Told through the annotated journals of Dr. Norton Perina, this sprawling tale has an old-fashioned feel. Perina has discovered the key to longevity on a remote island—but at what price?
About the author: Yanagihara is an editor for Condé Nast Travel—which explains Perina’s fantastic descriptions of island paradise.
Read more: Review in this issue.

Though the “overnight success” story tends to make headlines, debut novels are more often the result of years of hard work and dedication. This month, we’re highlighting four debuts that deserve some time in the spotlight.

It is always a treat when a talented writer chooses to write about her home, particularly when she does so with authority, clarity and imagination. Such is the case with Carrie La Seur, whose debut novel The Home Place gives readers a stunning but frank look at what it means to be from Billings, Montana.

La Seur, herself a lawyer, employs her intimate knowledge of the legal system and her familiarity with the setting to create a powerful work of fiction. The main character, Alma, has put her hometown far behind her to work at a high-end law firm in Seattle, but she is called back to Billings after her younger sister, Vicky, is found dead on the side of the road.

Upon arriving in Billings, Alma dubs herself co-investigator of Vicky’s death, quietly mulling over possible evidence, interviewing witnesses and interrogating potential killers. La Seur’s book is not just a crime novel, however. As Alma is forced to return to places she has worked to forget, she struggles with memories from her past—of first loves, of never-ending landscapes that have since been destroyed by mining, of her parents’ deaths, of Vicky’s life, of leaving Montana. With pitch-perfect prose, La Seur reminds us that home, though often a difficult word to define, is the place that pulls us no matter how hard we try to push against it.

—Stephanie Kirkland

Read an interview with Carrie La Seur.

BLENDING MYTH AND MAGIC
Marjorie, a graduate student in literature, assumed her sister Holly would always be her best friend and their grandfather’s bedtime stories were fairy tales. Then, after his death, Marjorie discovers notebooks filled with the same stories, now poetically rendered as Jewish folktales—though her grandfather never claimed to be a Jew.

Presented in full throughout the novel, these tales reveal aspects of Marjorie’s grandfather’s identity that undermine her faith in his character. As she struggles to interpret the stories, Marjorie has a series of encounters with an old man who not only knows about the notebooks, but also bitterly resents her grandfather.

While coping with these revelations, Marjorie struggles to accept Holly’s marriage to Nathan, a prickly, deeply observant member of an Orthodox Jewish sect. As Marjorie turns away from Holly and her new faith, a tragic event related to their hidden history forces Marjorie to set aside her anger and help someone she loves. As Marjorie’s investigations proceed, she discovers connections that span not just generations, but oceans, and that may even disobey the laws of time and space.

Stephanie Feldman’s first novel is a compelling mix of fable, history and mystery, but at the center, it is a very human story about how families accept one another’s choices while forgiving one another’s mistakes. The Angel of Losses is an ambitious work by a brilliant new author.

—Marianne Peters

A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR
David Leveraux just wants to fit in. He creates an easy, comfortable life with his pretty wife—but it doesn’t stay that way. His well-constructed life is artificial, and as he quickly discovers from his job in a 1970s research lab, artificial sweetness has its drawbacks.

Sweetness #9, the pretty pink artificial sweetener David examines in his lab, promises him, and the country, the good life. But it might have a dark side—since its introduction, many have become lethargic, anxious and overweight. But is that because of the pink powder, or is it just a product of the human condition?

It’s easy to think Sweetness #9 is an anti-food industry book, but it really isn’t. Artificial sweetener is used as a metaphor, and the real heart of the story is the past decades’ cultural shifts. It’s all here, from aerobics to blue ketchup, from school shootings to suburbia, from over-medication to diet fads. Chemical flavoring stands for our obsession with immediacy, our single-serving, isolationist culture and our inability to stomach anything nourishing, either culinary or emotional.

German-born author Stephan Eirik Clark’s style is understated and calm, punctuated with funny observations on the ridiculous aspects of everyday life. His writing is undeniably quirky, complete with a boy who loses his ability to use verbs, a German entrepreneur who flavored food for Hitler and a dancing monkey. But, like the sweetener, Clark’s style is masking something else: His quippy one-liners keep us entertained, so we barely notice the tale of hopelessness and loneliness that he’s creating along the way. Fans of Tom Perrotta will enjoy Clark’s pointed examination of the human condition.

—Carrie Rollwagen

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
Tom Putnam, an English professor at a small Southern college, had grown accustomed to living a simple, quiet life. His days were spent teaching, his nights at home with his unstable wife, Marjory, and her mother, the outspoken Agnes. Tom blamed himself for Marjory’s condition—a fleeting affair with a visiting poetess a decade ago had completely devastated her—and he never seemed to want more than he had. That is, until Rose Callahan arrives to run the campus bookstore and a series of unpredictable events change everything.

Rose is as lovely as her name, managing to charm almost everyone. Tom is taken with her instantly, but the very night they meet, he receives word that his affair produced a son, who will be coming to stay with him. Suddenly Tom must figure out how to navigate both his relationship with his son and his growing attraction to Rose.

Martha Woodroof’s delightful debut is a character-driven novel with a lot of heart. It’s a story of family, friendship and the unexpected ways people come in and out of our lives. Watching Tom and Rose change each other for the better is engaging and inspiring, and while some plot twists border on the unbelievable, Small Blessings is pure reading pleasure. Woodroof, an NPR contributor, clearly has a deep understanding of the human condition, and she has crafted a charming and compelling first novel that is perfect for book clubs and fans of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand.

—Abby Plesser

This article was originally published in the August 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Looking at a world from an outsider’s point of view is a common theme in literature—with good reason. It supplies a powerful perspective and often enlightenment, as demonstrated in these four memorable first novels.

REACHING A BREAKING POINT
The Islamophobic phase of America’s fitful xenophobia is nothing new: The religion may change, but the fear rarely does. Rajia Hassib’s In the Language of Miracles shows its effect on an Egyptian-American family after their eldest son kills his Christian girlfriend. The novel is topical both in its take on race relations and in its depiction of a troubled young man with ready access to firearms.

Samir and Nagla Al-Menshawy are model immigrants. Samir is a doctor building a family practice and aspiring to home ownership. Nagla is a supportive wife, and their kids, Hossam, Khaled and Fatima, are, in Samir’s words, “well-bred.” But something goes wrong with Hossam, even if what exactly that is isn’t clear. Is he mentally ill, or does he only suffer from the “loneliness and boredom” afflicting many newcomers? Either way, one day, in a fit of jealousy, he takes his girlfriend’s life and his own. Some reactions are predictable: threatening letters and graffiti (“Go Home”). Others are more sinister: posting photos of Samir’s house and children to Facebook. Hassib makes it clear, however, that 9/11 did change things for Muslim Americans. Khaled concludes that, as a Muslim, he is frequently seen as “a cancer that brought nothing but suffering.”

Hassib, who was born and raised in Egypt before moving to the U.S. at 23, is a capable writer, especially when dealing with the interpersonal. Her natural use of language resembles that of Khaled Hosseini. Both writers deal with a common theme: Sometimes melting pots have a propensity to boil over.

—Kenneth Champeon

MAKING THE WRONG FRIEND
If Shirley Jackson and Mary Gaitskill had a literary daughter, it might be Ottessa Moshfegh, whose unnerving debut is sure to garner attention. Part psychological thriller, part coming-of-age novel, Eileen shares a week in the life of its title character: a young woman stuck in a dead-end job in a juvenile detention center who crosses paths with a polished and privileged social worker. Looking back on her life, Eileen narrates with a precise, mesmerizing clarity. 

In her early 20s, Eileen is living in a dilapidated house in an unnamed Massachusetts town with her alcoholic father. Eileen, who also drinks too much, loathes her body and settles more deeply into her filthy home every day. She heartily despises her co-workers and harbors an unrequited crush on a guard, more out of boredom than real emotion. But when the attractive new head of education, Rebecca St. John, makes overtures of friendship, Eileen can’t resist her charm. She soon finds herself complicit in Rebecca’s atypical methods. 

Eileen takes place over a single snowy week, and the locations—from the attic bedroom and dank bars to the narrow linoleum halls of the jail—add to the feeling of claustrophobia that Moshfegh, currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford, expertly builds. It’s the how and not the why that this strange and unsettling novel reveals, and readers will be holding their breath by the final pages.

—Lauren Bufferd

ODD COUPLE IN AN ODD LAND
Fans of immigrant stories—think Americanah or House of Sand and Fog—will be captivated by Mr. and Mrs. Doctor, the striking first novel from Ohio-based writer Julie Iromuanya. 

Nigerians Ifi and Job may have married sight unseen, but they’re united by their determination to present themselves as the perfect, upwardly mobile immigrant couple to their families back home. This provides something of a challenge, since Job—who has been in America for nearly two decades—is not the doctor he claimed to be during their courtship, but a college dropout. As Ifi adjusts to her new home (under Job’s dubious tutelage), they attempt to make the most of their circumstances. That is, until Job’s first wife, whom he married for a green card, resurfaces.

Iromuanya weaves this tale of a mismatched couple with dark humor and careful observation. From the first scene, where Job tries to woo Ifi with techniques learned by watching American pornography (spoiler alert: it doesn’t go over well), it’s clear that no subject is off-limits. Her insights into assimilation—its difficulties and pitfalls—are astute and at times, eye-opening.

—Trisha Ping

THE INSULATED ELITE
For centuries, New York City has been a magnet to dreamers with fantasies of catapulting themselves into the upper echelons of society. Unfortunately, as Evelyn Beegan discovers in Stephanie Clifford’s debut novel, Everybody Rise, the higher you rise, the farther you have to fall should you lose your grip on the social ladder.

Evelyn has landed a job with an up-and-coming social media site, which seeks to attract the crème de la crème. Therefore, Evelyn makes it her mission to land Camilla Rutherford—the queen bee of Manhattan’s young, beautiful and rich—as a client. Knowing that a blue blood like Camilla would never rub elbows with a new-money nobody, Evelyn sets out to reinvent herself. What begins as fudging the truth soon spirals until Evelyn barely recognizes herself. It’s only a matter of time before her carefully constructed house of cards comes tumbling down.

With Everybody Rise, Clifford has crafted a sharp and witty cautionary tale about wealth and the pursuit of the American dream in the 21st century, right before the 2008 financial crash. Her shrewd look at upper-class dynamics in modern day New York society takes up the torch of Edith Wharton. And although her story is sobering in its scope, Clifford keeps it afloat with bursts of comedy; the end result is a thoughtful yet entertaining yarn that manages to bring to mind both The Great Gatsby and The Shopaholic series. Filled with scandal and schadenfreude, Everybody Rise will keep readers flipping pages.

—Stephenie Harrison

RELATED CONTENT: Read a Q&A with Stephanie Clifford about Everybody Rise.

This article was originally published in the August 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Have you discovered your favorite new author of 2016 yet? If not, we have a few ideas. Though these novels cover a range of settings and genres, they each feature a distinctive new voice readers will want to hear more from.

Nicole Dennis-Benn
HERE COMES THE SUN

For fans of: Edwidge Danticat, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Rohinton Mistry.

First line: “The long hours Margot works at the hotel are never documented.”

About the book: Three generations of Jamaican women struggle with love, family and finances in this beautifully complex novel.

About the author: Jamaican-born writer Nicole Dennis-Benn lives with her wife in Brooklyn, New York, where she teaches writing.

Read it for: A hard-hitting, realistic portrayal of those who live year-round in paradise. 

Krys Lee
HOW I BECAME A NORTH KOREAN

For fans of: Adam Johnson, Chang-rae Lee, Yiyun Li.

First line: “Home still begins as an image for me.”

About the book: The lives of a Chinese-American genius, a wealthy North Korean student and a desperate defector collide in a Chinese border town. 

About the author: Krys Lee teaches creative writing in South Korea; her story collection, Drifting House, was published to much acclaim in 2012.

Read it for: A masterful portrayal of the personal side of world politics and Lee’s understanding of the complexities of immigrant life.

Scott Stambach
THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF IVAN ISAENKO

For fans of: Coming-of-age tales with remarkable young narrators, such as The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

First line: “Dear Reader, whom I do not know, who may never be, I write not for you but for me.”

About the book: Confined to a children’s hospital in Belarus for all of his 17 years, spunky Ivan Isaenko is determined to transcend his severe physical deformities. His world brightens with the arrival of Polina, an orphaned girl with leukemia.

About the author: Scott Stambach teaches high school and college math and physics in San Diego.

Read it for: An unforgettable lead character and Stambach’s powerful writing, which captures the small acts of kindness and the incidental tragedies that are part of institutional life.

Heather Young
THE LOST GIRLS

For fans of: Jennifer McMahon, Kate Morton, Laura McHugh.

First line: “I found this notebook in the desk yesterday.”

About the book: Sixty years after the disappearance of her younger sister, Lucy Evans bequeaths the family’s Minnesota lake house to her grandniece, Justine—along with a notebook that recounts some devastating family secrets.

About the author: Heather Young practiced law for a decade and raised two kids before turning to fiction. She has an MFA from Bennington College Writing Seminars.

Read it for: The feeling of sinking into the complications of generational skeletons, like a plunge to the bottom of a cold lake.  

Forrest Leo
THE GENTLEMAN

For fans of: Wilde, Wodehouse, “The Addams Family” and Northanger Abbey.

First line: “My name is Lionel Savage, I am twenty-two years old, I am a poet, and I do not love my wife.”

About the book: A 19th-century London poet blows his fortune on books and must marry for money. When he strikes up a conversation with the Devil at a society soirée, Lionel (accidentally?) sells his new wife—and her soul. Hijinks ensue as Lionel and a band of misfits set off on a half-baked rescue mission. 

About the author: A playwright and NYU graduate, Forrest Leo was raised on an actual Alaskan homestead and has practiced dogsledding, carpentry and photography. 

Read it for: Monty Python-esque levels of absurdity, endlessly entertaining footnotes, period–appropriate illustrations, swashbuckling adventure and romance. 

Adam O'Fallon Price
THE GRAND TOUR

For fans of: Fredrik Backman and Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys.

First line: “Sir?”

About the book: Richard Lazar is reluctantly embarking on an alcohol-fueled book tour for his dark horse hit memoir about the Vietnam War. When Richard meets a hopelessly eager fan named Vance, the author surprises himself by letting Vance tag along. 

About the author: A former musician and screenwriter, Adam O’Fallon Price grew up in California, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. He currently lives in Iowa with his wife and cat.

Read it for: The oddly tender friendship that develops between the gruff author and the awkward Vance. 

This article was originally published in the August 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Nicole Dennis-Benn photo: Jason Berger
Krys Lee photo: Matt Douma
Forrest Leo photo: Abigail Sparrow

Become a fan from the very beginning, as these six outstanding new novelists make their debuts with deeply emotional narratives peopled with tremendous characters that will leave you aching for more.

IF YOU LEAVE ME
By Crystal Hana Kim

For fans of: Lisa See, Amy Tan, Toni Morrison and Jesmyn Ward.

First line: “Kyunghwan and I met where the farm fields ended and our refugee village began.”

The book: In war-torn Korea, Haemi and Kyunghwan find love in a refugee village, but honor and duty take precedence when a wealthy man begins courting the spirited Haemi.

The author: Winner of the PEN America’s Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, Crystal Hana Kim is a contributing editor for Apogee Journal and lives in Brooklyn.

Read it for: Lyrical prose that offers an unflinching look at motherhood and the aftermath of American imperialism.

BABY TEETH
By Zoje Stage

For fans of: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver and movies like The Babadook, The Bad Seed and The Ring.

First line: “Maybe the machine could see the words she never spoke.”

The book: Upscale parents grapple with an inexplicable and unremitting evil—in the form of their 7-year-old daughter.

The author: Zoje Stage is a former filmmaker and screenwriter who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Read it for: One more book to talk you out of procreating.

FRUIT OF THE DRUNKEN TREE
By Ingrid Rojas Contreras

For fans of: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

First line: “She sits in a plastic chair in front of a brick wall, slouching.”

The book: Two coming-of-age stories—that of rich city girl Chula and her maid, Petrona—overlap during Colombia’s violent 1990s.

The author: A Bogotá native, Ingrid Rojas Contreras and her family fled to Los Angeles when she was 14. She now writes for HuffPost and NPR, and teaches writing to immigrant high schoolers in San Francisco.

Read it for: A first-hand glimpse into the plight of vulnerable Colombian children in the recent past.

THE SHORTEST WAY HOME
By Miriam Parker

For fans of: Camille Perri, Elin Hilderbrand and Stephanie Danler.

First line: “I would have never predicted that a winery could change my life.”

The book: A business school graduate lands a coveted New York investment job, but her heart is set on a path less traveled (quite literally) in the wine country.

The author: Miriam Parker has worked in publishing for more than 17 years and is currently an associate publisher at Ecco. She lives in Brooklyn with her dog, Leopold Bloom.

Read it for: The love of wine, and the inspiring tale of taking chances and dreaming of a life more rewarding than a nine-to-five job.

LET ME BE LIKE WATER
By S.K. Perry

For fans of: Mitch Albom, Anne Tyler and Rachel Khong.

First line: “I was sitting on a bench at the beach when Frank told me I’d dropped my keys.”

The book: After the death of her boyfriend, 20-something Holly finds solitude and hope at the seaside in Brighton, in particular through a new friendship with an elderly, retired magician.

The author: The author of the poetry collection Curious Hands: 24 Hours in Soho, S.K. Perry was long-listed for London’s youth poet laureate in 2013.

Read it for: A sense of comfort, and for a reading experience as soothing and cathartic as ocean waves lapping at your toes.

BROTHER
By David Chariandy

For fans of: Zadie Smith, Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid, Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn.

First line: “Once he showed me his place in the sky.”

The book: The lives of two Canadian brothers are forever changed after a violent shooting draws additional police scrutiny to their neighborhood.

The author: David Chariandy grew up in the same Toronto public housing as the family in Brother. He currently teaches English at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He has been previously published in his native Canada (the critically acclaimed novel Soucouyant), but this is his first novel to be published in the United States.

Read it for: A poignant and timely look at community, family and race in a setting that will be new to many American readers.

August is First Fiction Month at BookPage! Click here to read all our First Fiction coverage on the blog; click here to read our most recent coverage of debut novels.

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Kim photo credit Nina Subin.
Stage photo credit Gabrianna Dacko.
Contreras photo credit Jeremiah Barber.
Parker photo credit Shannon Carpenter.
Perry photo credit Naomi Woddis.
Chariandy photo credit Joy von Tiedemann.