Autumn is the season of change and what better to mark this transition than with new novels from the world’s biggest authors? From feminist horror and family tensions to spy thrillers, our favorite writers are feeding us with brand-new releases. We have compiled a release lineup of the novels to look out for—a list so diverse and unique will suit everyone’s needs this autumn.
Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake
Expected September 5
An anticipated release particularly soon is two-time National Book Award finalist Rachel Kushner’s new spy novel. Sadie Smith is a 34-year-old American woman sent to rural France as a secret agent. She is sent to meet a young Parisian man named Lucien and convince him their love story is a perfect and coincidental encounter. Her anonymous and mysterious contacts behind the mission slowly ask more of her as a means of rousing incitement. In the meantime, an unexpected rift in the plan arises in the form of a mysterious activist named Bruno. Sadie believes she is the puppet master for her mission, yet it might just turn out that she is the one being played.
William Boyd, Gabriel’s Moon
Expected September 5
Multitask both releases and pick up William Boyd’s new exhilarating novel, Gabriel’s Moon. Travel writer Gabriel Daz leaves the comforting streets of sixties London and travels to Cadiz and Warsaw to capture the changing scenes and landscapes of the Cold War. When he receives the opportunity to interview a controversial political figure, he becomes actively immersed in a world of schemes, betrayals, and duplicitous identities. He encounters the intriguing MI6 handler Faith Green, who he cannot help but follow further into the shadows and become stuck in a world of decrepit and paranoia.
Rumaan Alam, Entitlement
Expected September 17
Brook has lived an unfulfilled life, leaving her ambitious for money and success. When she has the opportunity to work for a billionaire and achieve these ambitions, this proximity to wealth begins to change her circumstances of living and her beliefs. This is a novel about money and morality, a deep cut into modern society, and how the seduction of success may not be what it’s hyped up for.
Elizabeth Strout, Tell Me Everything
Expected September 10
Pulitzer prize winner Elizabeth Strout is coming out with a new eBook about three individuals who, in the wake of a crime in their town, are left grappling with how to cope and reconsider life’s meaning. Bob Burgess is an isolated town lawyer forced into the murder investigation with so many mysteries untold. He becomes fast friends with Lucy Barton who lives down the road with her ex-husband. They go on walks and reveal their innermost fears, struggles, and passions. Meanwhile, Lucy meets Olive Kitteridge, who lives in a retirement home. As the three individuals intertwine their stories in unexpected ways, Tell Me Everything is a story about true friendship and keeping each other afloat.
Jandy Nelson, When the World Tips Over
Expected September 24
Author of the bestselling young adult novel I’ll Give You the Sun, Nelson’s new novel follows a different set of siblings. Dizzy, Miles and Wynton Fall have been facing the repercussions after years ago, their father mysteriously disappeared. Dizzy is a spunky, spiritual heroine in her own story. Miles is brilliant, athletic, and popular, yet missing romance with the guy of his dreams. Wynton is burning with passion: set for greatness with his violin playing yet also heated with self-destruction. When a girl with rainbow hair shows up, their whole world tips over, and the Fall siblings are set on a journey toward road trips, conflict, romance, and family curses.
Sally Rooney, Intermezzo
Expected September 24
Besides writing about gorgeous Irish people and their feelings, the best-selling author of Normal People and many more pay careful attention to class struggles and the complexities of relationships and sex. With her new novel, she treads towards family and grief. 30-year-old Peter is a successful Dublin lawyer and Ivan is his younger brother who prefers a more quiet, loner lifestyle. Both lives are shaken by the death of their father, which launches them into separate ways of coping. Peter copes by self-medicating and finds himself torn between two of his past loves, while Ivan finds himself in a relationship with an older woman whose tricky past seems to follow her. They navigate a new wave of life while also trying to sort through the aftermath of death.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Message
Expected October 1
Coates is known as the bestselling author of Between the World and Me, one of this decade’s most powerful books about race and the socioeconomic state of America. Coates initially planned for his next book to be about the act of writing. Nevertheless, it effortlessly turned into a prevalent series about how stories and narratives shape reality—and whether or not these constructed realities distort information or expose harsh truths. It is split into three short essays. The first is Africa where he finds himself grappling with a balance of a modernist city and an ideal of a mythical kingdom. In the second part, Coates travels to Columbia, South Carolina where his previous book is banned. The third and longest is when he travels to the Middle East to uncover a different perspective away from the media. Familiar to Coates, one can expect truths that people avoid, making them more necessary to reveal and talk about.
Matt Haig, The Life Impossible
Expected October 22
Many may be familiar with Matt Haig’s first release, Midnight Library which sold over nine million copies worldwide. His unique voice combines realism and magic to broach life’s most relevant issues about identity and purpose. In his upcoming novel, he follows the same themes with retired math teacher Grace Winters who is suddenly left with a run-down house in Ibiza by a long-lost friend. With no plan, she seeks to uncover the truth behind her friend’s death, forcing her to deal with her past as she tries to learn how to move to a new beginning. One can expect a warm approach to loss that feels like a hug to those who have lost and a light push for those who seek to move forward.
Haruki Murakami, The City and its Uncertain Walls
Expected November 19
At 75, Japanese author Haruki Murakami has released over 34 novels and short essays that have been consistent bestsellers internationally. Known for brilliant novels like Kafka On the Shore, Norwegian Wood, and Wild Sheep Chase, Murakami is an expert in magical realism. His latest release, The City and its Uncertain Walls, was written in lockdown about an average middle-aged man searching for his past love who vanished as a teenager. A stalking streak leads him to a city with an unusual library, a seemingly parallel yet different premise to Kafka on the Shore. One can expect Eater Eggs, a classic protagonist who is searching for something unreachable, and of course, the feeling of being lost in a dream-like stance.
Keep an eye out for even more novels coming in the next few months. In the meantime, light your pumpkin spice candle, bake some apple-flavored desserts, and thank your favorite authors for keeping us entertained through autumn.
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