REALISTIC FICTION / DEBUT
THE
REVISIONERS
Margaret
Wilkerson Sexton
Two black women—
related but separated
by nearly 100
years—grapple with
motherhood, race
and freedom.WOMEN
TALKING
Miriam Toews
Toews fictionalizes
a real case of Men-
nonite women and
girls in Bolivia who
were drugged and
raped by men in
their community.NOTHING
TO SEE HERE
Kevin Wilson
Lillian’s life is
forever changed
when she becomes
the governess for
10-year-old twins—
who regularly burst
into flames.
RED AT
THE BONE
Jacqueline
Woodson
Woodson traces
the impact of an
unplanned teen
pregnancy on multi-
ple generations of a
Brooklyn family.QUEENIE
Candice Carty-
Williams
Billed as a “black
Bridget Jones,”
Queenie follows a
woman whose life
starts to unravel
after a breakup.
But the story of
her misadventures
goes deeper as the
protagonist struggles
through depression
and self-destruction.FLEISHMAN
IS IN TROUBLE
Taffy Brodesser-
Akner
In this wildly uncom-
fortable, hilarious
and raw novel,
the co-parenting
efforts of a recently
separated couple hit
a major snag when
Toby Fleishman’s ex
one day unexpectedly
drops off the kids and
never returns.THE UNPASSING
Chia-Chia Lin
A terrifying bout of
meningitis takes
the life of a little girl
but spares her older
brother, leaving their
Taiwanese- American
immigrant family
reeling in 1980s
Alaska, navigating
heartbreak and
uncertainty in an
unfamiliar world.SUPPER CLUB
Lara Williams
A self-conscious
young woman and
her best friend throw
debauched dinner
parties—judgment-
free zones where
women can gorge,
get high and “take
up space,” itself a
radical feminist act
in a society that’s
always policing
women’s hunger.MIRACLE
CREEK
Angie Kim
A fire erupts at a
medical- treatment
facility in Virginia
and kills two people,
including a child.
Seeking someone to
blame, the small-town
community devolves
into distrust in a story
that’s both murder
mystery and reflec-
tion on otherness.MOSTLY
DEAD THINGS
Kristen Arnett
Jessa-Lynn is aching
to forget her father’s
suicide but unable to
do so as she is now
in charge of his failing
taxidermy shop,
where she found his
body. Grief comes in
many forms: for her
mother, that means
creating controversial
art as a way to cope.THE DUTCH
HOUSE
Ann Patchett
Patchett follows
siblings who lose their
home, probing the
corrosive link between
family and wealth
and the role women
are often cast in as
rebuilders.SEARCHING
FOR SYLVIE LEE
Jean Kwok
Partly inspired by a
tragic event from the
author’s life, her novel
follows a search for
a missing sister that
leads to broad revela-
tions about family, lan-
guage and belonging.GIRL,
WOMAN, OTHER
Bernardine
Evaristo
The prizewinning novel
traces the histories of
12 British women over
more than 100 years.
With each comes a
distinctive perspective
on feminism, race
and class.THE
SHADOW KING
Maaza Mengiste
An orphan in Ethiopia
works as a maid—
until she steps up to
become a war hero,
helping to defend
her country against
Mussolini’s invasion
in 1935.