The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight
by Gina Ochsner
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
"[Ochsner] manages...to capture our sundry human moments and make raw and unforgettable music of them" —Colum McCann, National Book Award winning author of Let the Great World Spin
The Summer We Fell Apart
by Robin Antalek
(Harper Perennial)
"A preoccupied playwright father and a cult-actress mother are the stars of the Haas family in Antalek's well-crafted and cunning debut novel ... a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and to the importance of family ties regardless of family history, making this an endearing and easy-to-relate-to dysfunctional family drama." —Publisher's Weekly
The Unnamed
by Joshua Ferris
(Reagan Arthur Books)
"The novel's circular aspects, with would-be happy endings spiraling back into chaos and then descending further, integrate Ferris' themes of family, sickness, and the uncertain division between body and mind into a vastly satisfying and original book." —Publisher's Weekly (starred)
A Friend of the Family
by Lauren Grodstein
(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)
"This book is full of insights and honesty...These people will stay in your head and keep their hands on your heart. Grodstein's skills at storytelling are unwavering." —Elizabeth Strout, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Olive Kitteridge
"A wonderful second novel...An astute dissector of male aspiration, Grodstein brings great insight into a father's protective urge for his son in this gripping portrait of an American family in crisis." —Publisher's Weekly (starred)
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth
by Kevin Wilson
(Ecco/HarperCollins)
"Weird and wonderful stories from a writer who has that most elusive of gifts: new ideas." —Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Wilson's captivating debut collection paints an everyday world filled with characters obsessed with weird impulses….Wilson creates a lively landscape with rich and twisted storytelling." —Publisher's Weekly
"[A] dazzling and important new writer." —Ann Patchett
A Disobedient Girl
by Ru Freeman
(Atria Books/Simon & Schuster)
"Evocative and moving. Ru Freeman is a marvelous storyteller who sees deeply into the complex layers of compassion and love, of sorrow and betrayal. An amazing first novel." —Ursula Hegi, New York Times bestselling author of The Worst Thing I've Done and Stones From the River
"A thrilling debut: Ru Freeman has given us a wonderfully bold and determined protagonist in a richly drawn, complex, fascinating story. I loved it." —Lynn Freed
"A heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting novel that celebrates our ability to transcend tragedy." —Rishi Reddi
The Heretic's Daughter
by Kathleen Kent
(Little, Brown & Co.)
"The Heretic's Daughter is raw, honest and completely captivating. Kathleen Kent takes what would seem to be a familiar subject and gives it a fresh, new perspective—moving us through a wrenching gamut of emotions as she does so. A searing look at one of the worst periods in our history." —Anita Shreve
"A family's conflict becomes a battle for life and death in this gripping and original first novel based on family history from a descendant of a condemned Salem witch." —Publisher's Weekly *starred*
Finding Nouf
by Zoë Ferraris
(Houghton Mifflin)
A San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller, Book Sense pick and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick.
"[An] imaginative and closely observed murder mystery set in the Saudi port town of Jeddah … a literary detective novel that balances the pleasure of plot with finely milled prose." —San Francisco Chronicle
"What's remarkable about this debut is that its mystery takes place within a culture that has itself largely been under wraps….it's the individual journeys of Nayir and Katya, who abide by their society's strictures even as they are frustrated by them, that elevate Finding Nouf to a larger human drama." —Entertainment Weekly
"A successful hybrid of thriller and literary portrait." —Minneapolis Star Tribune
Then We Came to the End
by Joshua Ferris
(Little, Brown & Co.)
Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Barnes & Noble Discover Award and a National Book Award Finalist
"expansive, great-hearted and acidly funny….[a] perceptive and darkly entertaining novel." —New York Times Book Review
"Ferris brilliantly captures the fishbowl quality of contemporary office life.…a masterwork of pitch and tone…" —The New Yorker
What You Have Left
by Will Allison
(Free Press)
"Mr. Allison's novel is plainspoken and eloquent in the way that So Long, See You Tomorrow is plainspoken&mdashand eloquent. It's worked up right out of the American grain and speaks to me, direct and true." —Richard Ford
"A remarkable, understated novel. … Allison has a precocious knack for detail … and for plain, old-fashioned storytelling…. [O]ne of the year's best fiction debuts." —Entertainment Weekly
A Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, Borders Original Voices selection and a Book Sense Pick.
A Ticket to Ride
by Paula McLain
(Ecco)
"McLain is a poet and it shows in the way she uses language here. Her depiction of Jamie, in Jamie's own words, is sensitive and compelling…" —Booklist
"In this beautifully written book about the bad decisions we make on the way to growing up, Paula McLain creates a teenage heroine whose struggle to define herself is both heartbreaking and redemptive. A Ticket to Ride is deeply felt and engrossing—an immense pleasure to read." —Leah Stewart, author of The Myth of You and Me
"[A] haunting coming-of-age story, with sun-dazzled prose that hides a cold, foreboding underbelly. Read it for the memories of lazy, promising, unsettling teenage summers, or just read it for the gorgeous writing." —Gillian Flynn, author of Sharp Objects
Still Life With Husband
by Lauren Fox
(Alfred A. Knopf)
"An intimate, emotionally articulate, and technically deft anatomy of family, friendship, and love. It is also the debut novel of a meticulous, compassionate, and gifted young writer." —Lorrie Moore
"A delightful new voice in American fiction, a voice that instantly recalls the wry, knowing prose of Lorrie Moore crossed with the screwball talents of the cartoonist Roz Chast." —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"Read Still Life with Husband for its funny, winning voice and an ending that could be debated by book clubs for months to come." —USA Today
Last Seen Leaving
by Kelly Braffet
(Houghton Mifflin)
"A compelling tale of mother-daughter estrangement…Braffet convincingly depicts prickly Miranda's escape from her past—and the frenzy of Anne's delayed search for her…" —Entertainment Weekly
"[A] deft second novel….Braffet has a gift for creating an atmosphere of suspicion —and suspense." —Francine Prose, People Magazine
"[a] literary thriller that deepens rather than solves the most elusive mystery of all: the mystery of human nature." —San Francisco Chronicle
"Braffet, in her frequently gripping sophomore effort creates atmosphere and builds tension like a seasoned pro." —Washington Post
The Time It Takes to Fall
by Margaret Lazarus Dean
(Simon & Schuster)
"Affecting, original debut about a girl's coming of age, set against the backdrop of the NASA space-shuttle program….An accomplished first novel about the American family." —Kirkus Reviews *starred*
"A deft reflection on the loss of personal and national innocence." mdash;Bookpage
"[A] gripping judgment of American culture with a harrowing depiction in the epilog of the last few minutes in the lives of the Challenger's seven astronauts." —Library Journal