110 Time November 30/December 7, 2020
Actress
ANNE ENRIGHT
A daughter attempts
to untangle the past
of her mother, a
revered star of the
stage and screen.
Enright undercuts the
glamour of postwar
Hollywood with the
darkness of 1970s
Dublin winters to
explore the ugly side
of fame.
KEY
Agency
WILLIAM GIBSON
Gibson’s sequel to
The Peripheral takes
place in both the
near future and a
distant one, where
all of what modern
society fears—
climate change,
pandemics, wars
over resources—has
slowly wiped out 80%
of humanity.
Afterlife
JULIA ALVAREZ
Retired and recently
widowed, a woman
is haunted by loss.
But her life takes
another dramatic turn
when the pregnant,
undocumented
girlfriend of a Mexican
laborer who works on
a neighboring farm
knocks on her door, in
need of help.
The City We
Became
N.K. JEMISIN
New York City
is under attack
from the Enemy, a
representation of
white supremacy.
Avatars for the five
boroughs must bond
together to fight,
making their diversity
their strength in the
face of sinister forces.
- The Vanishing
Half
BRIT BENNETT
Twin sisters Stella
and Desiree Vignes
are Black but could
pass as white, and
when one makes
the decision to
do so, she sets
generations of
Vignes women
on a complicated
new path.
3. The Mirror
& the Light
HILARY MANTEL
The final
installment in
Mantel’s masterly
trilogy on Thomas
Cromwell finds
the adviser to the
mercurial King
Henry VIII finally
facing up to the
consequences of
his scheming.
4. A Children’s
Bible
LYDIA MILLET
After a storm
pummels their
vacation home, a
group of children
decide to flee, and
their adventure
story gives way
to a distressing
narrative about the
burdens placed on
young people.
5. Homeland
Elegies
AYAD AKHTAR
Akhtar employs
details from his
own life—his name,
Pakistani heritage
and more—to leave
readers constantly
questioning
what is real as
they consider
what makes an
American identity.
6. I Hold a Wolf
by the Ears
LAURA VAN
DEN BERG
Van den Berg’s
eerie short stories,
each anchored
by a woman
who is slightly
disconnected
from her reality,
offer glimpses of
biting humor amid
revelations of pain. - Shuggie Bain
DOUGLAS STUART
In 1980s Glasgow,
Shuggie is left
to look after
his struggling
mother as she
descends further
into alcoholism,
all while trying to
make sense of his
sexuality and place
in the world.
THE 10 BEST FICTION BO OKS
Fiction
REALISTIC FICTION
SHORT STORIES
SUSPENSE + ALTERED WORLDS
Nonfiction
HISTORY + POLITICS
MEMOIR + ESSAYS
SOCIETY + SCIENCE