There's nothing quite like the thrill of discovering a new voice in fiction. Many authors get better with each new book, but there's usually something about debut novels – a certain fearlessness, a burst of energy and ideas – that makes them impossible to forget. What better gift than a new discovery?
There's the bragging rights – the oh my god, have you read it yet? factor – of being among the first to discover a new talent. Over the past year, that particular pleasure has been harder to come by than usual; the serendipitous stroll around the bookshop has been trickier; the word-of-mouth buzz difficult to catch.Jump to: Thought-provoking reads | Historical fiction | Twisting Thrillers | Modern storytelling | Family drama | Love, friendship and summer fun
And so we've decided to celebrate a range of brilliant debut novels that may have passed you by this year, from engrossing historical fiction to beautiful portraits of contemporary life; joyful tales of love and friendship to nail-biting thrillers. If you've loved them, why not buy another copy for a friend, giving you something wonderful to catch up on in the new year.
Thought-provoking reads
Keisha the Sket
It's almost difficult to remember that Jade LB is a debut author. The creator of Keisha the Sket was a teenager when her stories about growing up Black and poor on the estates of Hackney went viral through email and text message in the early Noughties . Nearly two decades later, Keisha has entered into the literary canon in book form, with both the original, a revisited version and essays from contemporary thinkers and writers on the impact of Jade LB's work.
My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
Centuries after Thomas Jefferson set up home at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia, and a few years from now, a group of Black and brown friends, families and strangers from the city's First Street neighbourhood arrive after fleeing white supremacists. A time of rolling blackouts and turbulent weather, this near-future nightmare plays out over 19 tense days in the former president's home. Told from the perspective of Da'Naisha Love, a Black descendent of Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, My Monticello is a blistering reflection of today's society.
One of the most talked about debuts of the year belongs to Caleb Azumah Nelson, whose tender novella, telling the story of a young Black artist falling in love, made waves with both readers and fellow authors such as Candice Carty-Williams, Yaa Gyasi and more. Writing in a style that weaves a line between prose and verse, Nelson paints a moving portrait of Black creativity, nodding to artists across a multitude of media – music, dance and, of course, poetry and literature – while illuminating the ways the world (and city life in particular) too often squeeze softness out of young men.
Three Rooms
Set over 2018, when climate change dominated the headlines, Brexit continued to divide a nation and the Grenfell tragedy highlighted social inequality, Three Rooms follows a young woman as she begins her professional career at a society magazine. The contract is temporary and her rent budget only stretches to a stranger's sofa, which leads her to question: What is it all for? Jo Hamya's debut speaks to a generation of underpaid and overworked young people with prospects of job security and homeownership a distant dream while trying to establish their place.
Interviews with an Ape
Sometimes the simplest premise is the most powerful. In Felice Fallon’s timely and inventive debut novel Interviews with an Ape , she imagines the life of a gorilla called Einstein who can communicate with humans through sign language and tells the stories of other vulnerable creatures from throughout the animal kingdom, all of which have a real-world significance that’s heartbreakingly clear. And, as one might imagine, the novel is less about Einstein than humanity’s relationship to animals, the natural world and, ultimately, ourselves.
Nightbitch
There have been a number of excoriating books about motherhood published in recent years. Avni Doshi’s debut Burnt Sugar Blue Ticket
We Are All Birds of Uganda
The 1972 Ugandan-Asian expulsion forms the historical backbone of this novel by the inaugural Merky Book New Writer’s Prize winner Hafsa Zayyan, which deftly balances the changing political landscape of mid-century Uganda with the present day. Muslim millennial Sameer must choose between a jet-set career path as a lawyer or an ineffable tug to his heritage. By entwining his narrative with that of his grandfather, Zayyan paints a heartfelt and hopeful portrait of colonialism, choice and culture.
Teeth in the Back of my Neck
One of two young authors, alongside Hafsa Zayyan, to win the inaugural #Merky Books New Writer Prize in 2020, poet Monika Radojevic has now made her debut with the highly anticipated collection Teeth in the Back of my Neck. Already being hailed as one of the best debuts of the year, it finds Radojevic boldly confronting what it means to hail from a modern diaspora, and how profoundly one’s identity – and the world’s perception of that identity – is shaped by it. Alternately harrowing and joyous, Radojevic’s ability to mine beauty from such tension has made her an exciting young poet to watch.
Historical fiction
Witches and witchcraft have proved a rich seam of literary inspiration in recent years, with titles including Pine Year of the Witching Cunning Women is set at the time of the Pendle Witch Trials, in 17th-century Lancashire. Sarah Haworth and her family are village outcasts in spite of their skills with healing balms and secret-keeping. But when she falls in love with a neighbouring lad, she becomes determined to save their daughter from the ostracism faced by her mother and every generation of women since.
The Mad Women’s Ball
Described as a "darkly delightful Gothic treasure" by The Girl on the Train author Paula Hawkins, Victoria Mas’ debut became a bestselling sensation in her native France winning several prestigious prizes. It won't take long for you to understand why.
Set in the infamous Salpêtrière asylum in 1885, Mas picks one momentous night for the fates of two very different women to change as the Parisian elite and the patients of the asylum collide during The Mad Women’s Ball .
Twisting Thrillers
The Upper World
Femi Fadugba’s goal for his debut novel was to “craft a journey gripping enough that the nerds, the mandem – and the rest of us in between – would all want to read”. It seems he’s achieved just that: The Upper World , soon to be turned into a Netflix series co-produced by Daniel Kaluuya, tells the story of Esso, a young man in modern day Peckham who, discovering he can see the future, is haunted by visions of a bullet fired in an alleyway. A generation into the future, 15-year-old Rhia might just be affected by the same things Esso sees. Hooked yet? There’s a reason this is one of the year’s most anticipated YA novels.
Damage
How far would you go to protect your own family? That's the question asked by former lawyer Caitlin Wahrer in her fearlessly twisting and provocative thriller, Damage . Set in a small North American town, Damage explores the events in the aftermath of a sexual assault. This compulsive psychological thriller pivots around three ordinary people who find their lives in disarray after a tragedy that none of them can quite get a grip on. When the detective starts to investigate, the cracks begin to show.
Modern storytelling
Family drama
This Shining Life
When she's not writing, author Harriet Kline registers births, deaths and marriages for a living – meaning she's well aquainted with life-changing moments. This Shining Life has plenty of them: after the diagnosis of a fatal brain tumour threatens to rip a family apart, a mother and son piece together the remnants left by the man they loved – Rich, a brilliant father who has left a string of unconnected gifts for the people he leaves behind. In discovering them, and trying to uncover their meaning, his widow and son find new ways of living in this deeply poignant and uplifting book.
Love, friendship and summer fun
An odd-couple story that feels particularly poignant after this past year, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot sees 17-year-old Lenni and 83-year-old Margot brought together on a terminal ward where they realise they’ve lived 100 years between them and embark on a special art project to celebrate it. A beautifully delivered paean to the power of friendship and the way humour can cross generational divides, despite the sad setting this novel is full of laughs and life-affirming moments that may remind you of other, similarly powerful; novels that take a glance over the shoulder at life, such as The Five People You Meet In Heaven and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry .
The Idea of You
If you’re after true escapism this summer (and let’s face it, who isn’t?) Robinne Lee’s immersive debut has plenty. The actress-turned-author offers up a potent mix in The Idea of You : a Romeo and Juliet-style love affair, only with Juliet a 39-year-old mother and ex-wife who has lost herself along the way, and the Romeo an international sex symbol and boyband front man. Our heroine Solène Marchand must navigate this new love against a dizzying backdrop of fame, social media scrutiny and – worst of all – her own daughter’s fandom over her new boyfriend. No wonder Vogue called it ‘the sleeper hit of the pandemic'.
Dog Days
One for lovers of canines, unpredictable plots and brilliantly drawn characters, Ericka Waller’s virtuoso debut is a triple-hander about three very different people united by one eternal truth: however bad things get in life, a dog can make it better. George is a elderly misanthrope dealing with grief, Dan is a counsellor with OCD who is better at giving advice than taking it, and Lizzie – the complex heart of the novel – is living in a women’s refuge and dealing with her own traumatic past. Dog Days is a debut that never goes quite where you think it is, and is brimming with empathy and insight for its protagonists.
The Summer Job
Disgruntled with her own messy life in London, Birdy Finch decides to accept a summer position as a sommelier under Michelin-star chef Russell Brooks in a swanky Scottish Hotel. The small problem is that the job was intended for her best friend Heather, the bigger problem is that Birdy is not a world-class wine expert. And while she might be able to hoodwink her boss – sort of – can she keep the deception going as she begins to fall in love? Lauded by Marian Keyes as 'engaging, heart-warming and so much fun,' and due to hit our small screens soon, this is the perfect summer escape to add to your reading pile.
No Such Thing as Perfect
Emma Hughes explores the complexities of modern dating in her sharply-observed debut which has been described as 'the perfect blend of uplifting escapism and social satire' by author Daisy Buchanan. The story follows Laura who uses the opportunity to test a new dating app to find her perfect match. Enter Adam. Handsome, intelligent and kind - he is the man of Laura's dreams - or so she believes until she realises she is falling for the guy who made the algorithm that brought them together.
The Mismatch
In her debut novel Sara Jafari shows a preternatural knack for weaving the nuances of modern life into literature’s oldest subject: love. In The Mismatch , we're introduced to 21-year-old Soraya who, in a quest to experience her first kiss, targets the popular, confident Magnus – Soraya’s total opposite, and someone she is at no risk of falling for. Meanwhile, at home, Soraya’s mother is on a quest of her own to make peace with living in the UK, having left Iran behind decades ago. As each mismatch informs the other, Jafari braids together two cultural histories into one poignant, utterly contemporary love story.
What did you think of this article? Email editor@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk and let us know.
Image: Mica Murphy / Penguin
Three Rooms
Set over 2018, when climate change dominated the headlines, Brexit continued to divide a nation and the Grenfell tragedy highlighted social inequality, Three Rooms follows a young woman as she begins her professional career at a society magazine. The contract is temporary and her rent budget only stretches to a stranger's sofa, which leads her to question: What is it all for? Jo Hamya's debut speaks to a generation of underpaid and overworked young people with prospects of job security and homeownership a distant dream while trying to establish their place in the world.
