Reading the Shadows

Fourteen Days: A Collaborative Novel edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston (HarperCollins)

Set in New York’s Lower East Side tenement in the early days of the Covid lockdowns, Fourteen Days is a collaborative novel from the Authors Guild, with a twist: each character has been se­cretly written by a different, ma­jor literary voice—from Margaret Atwood to Dave Eggers to John Grisham, where the reader does not know who wrote what.

Until August by Gabriel García Márquez (Penguin)

In 2014, before his death Marquez was working on a novel, which he felt should not be published. A decade later his family have decided to bring the story of Ana Magdalena Bach—who every August, travels to an island where her mother is buried, and for one night takes a new lover—to light. It is a meditation on freedom and love.

What Will Survive of Us by Howard Jacobson (Jonathan Cape)

Lily is a documentary maker. Sam is a playwright. Both are in relationships that have expired, but their encounter makes both come alive again. Arriving in mid-life, their relationship opens unexpected new worlds. What will survive? And what will not?

You Like It Darker: Stories by Stephen King (Hachette)

A collection of 12 stories that delve into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and lit­eral. Read about fate, mortality and the quirks of reality.

Mania by Lionel Shriver (HarperCollins)

Shriver revels in being an icono­clast. Here she targets the polic­ing of thought. In an alternative 2011, the Mental Parity move­ment takes hold. Americans now embrace the universal truth that there is no such thing as variable human intelligence.

Blue Ruin by Hari Kunzru (Knopf)

Jay, once an artist tipped for greatness, finds himself as an undocumented worker living in his car in a post-Covid world. He meets a former lover from his art school days, which sets in motion a reckoning. This is a portrait of an artist as he reunites with his past and confronts the world he has left behind.

Long Island by Colm Tóibín (Picador)

The long-awaited sequel to Brooklyn, where readers will reunite with characters like Eilis Lacey and ask whether different choices would have led to different trajectories.

Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux (HarperCollins)

A fictional retelling of George Orwell and his time in Burma.

Rosarita by Anita Desai (Picador)

Desai’s first adult fiction in a decade will explore art and memory.

Parade by Rachel Cusk (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

A novel that questions the limits of identity, character, and plot to tell the story of G, an artist whose life contains many lives.

Choice by Neel Mukherjee (Penguin)

Three linked but distinct narratives—around a publisher, an academic, a family in rural India—tell of unintended consequences, responsibility, and ethics. What happens when market values replace other notions of value and meaning? How do the choices we make affect our work, our relationships?

A Firestorm in Paradise by Rana Safvi (Penguin)

Historical fiction set during the build-up to the 1857 Uprising. The novel pays homage to a forgotten Delhi, or Shahjahana bad and celebrates the sophisticat­ed culture that was nurtured by the Mughals.

There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak (Viking)

Three characters live on the banks of the River Thames and the River Tigris. Their lives are curiously touched by the epic of Gilgamesh.

James by Percival Everett (Pan Macmillan)

An action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view.

 

Loot by Tania James (Knopf)

A historical novel set in the eighteenth century, the story of a young artist coming of age, that traces the bloody legacy of colonial­ism across two continents and fifty years.

Like Being Alive Twice by Dharini Bhaskar (Penguin)

In an unnamed city in an unnamed country, Priyamvada (or Poppy) and Tariq are in love. In a few hours, Tariq is meant to propose to her. However, everything changes rapidly as scorecards now determine your life. This speculative fiction asks the big questions of the day.

Acts of God by Kanan Gill (HarperCollins)

A Danish policeman accidentally becomes a clothing-optional leader of a worldwide group of Science Haters, a sentient wall struggles with the limits of its artistic expression and a lapel pin’s habit of giving truthful advice results in chaos. One of India’s finest comedic voices ventures into science fiction.

The Spoiled Heart by Sunjeev Sahota (Penguin)

A novel of love, community and politics, set at the edge of the Peak District, where Nayan Olak is drawn to a stranger in town, Helen. This is a multi-layered account of one man’s fall.

POETRY

The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain: Lyrics for Stacey Kent by Kazuo Ishiguro, illustrated by Bianca Bagnarelli (Knopf)

A collection of 16 song lyrics that Nobel laureate Ishiguro wrote for the singer Stacey Kent, now pub­lished along with art work.

Late-Blooming Cherries: Haiku Poetry from India edited by Kynpham Sing and Rimi Nath (HarperCollins)

This first-ever anthology of haikus from India, with verses on young love and small joys to the de­spairs of loneliness.

Baal-o-Par: Collected Poems by Gulzar, translated by Rakhshanda Jalil (HarperCollins)

Collected together for the very first time, the poems are all newly trans­lated into English by Jalil, and appear in bilingual form.

CRIME FICTION

Camino Ghosts by John Grisham (Hachette)

A giant resort developer is using its political muscle and deep pockets to claim ownership of a deserted island. Only the last living inhabitant of the island, Lovely Jackson, stands in its way. What the developer doesn’t know is that the island has a remark­able history, and locals believe it is cursed, and the past is never the past.

Razor Sharp: A Kutta Kadam Thriller by Ashwin Sanghi (HarperCollins)

In Mumbai, a ruthless serial killer stalks the streets, leaving a gruesome trail of tortured victims. As the city reels in terror, a ques­tion emerges: What links these seemingly random targets? Enter Prakash Kadam, once a decorat­ed cop but now a wreck of a man haunted by his past. In an investiga­tion plagued by police sluggishness and antiquated forensics, Kadam tries to break the nexus between cops, politicians, and the mafia.

 

End of Story by AJ Finn (HarperCollins)

“I’ll be dead in three months. Come tell my story.” So writes Sebastian Trapp, a reclusive mystery novelist, to his longtime correspondent Nicky Hunter, an expert in detective fiction. Trapp invites Nicky to his San Francisco mansion to help draft his life story. Soon Nicky finds herself caught in a case of real-life “detective fever.”

Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Fourth Estate)

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii is convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagina­tion but Kajii refuses to speak with the press. That is, until jour­nalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back. Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, this book is an exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

Anna O by Matthew Blake (HarperCollins)

For Doctor Benedict Prince, a foren­sic psychologist on London’s Harley Street, waking Anna O, who was found in deep sleep by the bod­ies of her best friends, could be career defining. As he begins Anna O’s treatment—studying his patient’s dreams, combing her memories, visiting the site where the horrors played out—he pulls on the thread of a much deeper, darker mystery.

A Nest of Vipers: A Bangalore Detectives Mystery by Harini Nagendra (Hachette)

A romp into the world of jadoo, complete with sleight-of-hand magicians, snake charmers, and rope tricks. Kaveri and Ramu continue their sleuthing, with help from the Bangalore Detectives Club, amidst the growing rumblings of Indian independence and the backdrop of women’s emancipation.

Anita DesaibooksfictionForecast 2024Gabriel Garcia MarquezGulzarHari Kunzru