Debut authors set to make their mark this year
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Loading... - Pedro Silva
- 28 Feb 2023
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A flurry of debut novels are always heavily pushed by publicists during this time of year, but only a handful will make the bestseller list.
In 2022, one of those names was Tessy Gunty, whose debut The Rabbit Hutch (Oneworld) won both the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the National Book Award for fiction in the US.
Looking ahead to 2023, these are the debuts Bea Carvalho, head fiction buyer at Waterstones, suggests are the ones to watch…
1. Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey (Fourth Estate, Jan 17)
This debut novel from the screenwriter of Schitt’s Creek and Everything I Know About Love is a funny, satirical and, at times, profound story about a young woman trying to navigate her way through life following a divorce after a short-lived marriage.
“This one is hotly anticipated and inspired by the author’s own experience of getting married and divorced in her 20s, ideal for readers of Dolly Alderton,” says Carvalho.
2. The New Life by Tom Crewe (Chatto & Windus, Jan 12)
This novel is inspired by the story of two men in the 19th century, who wrote the first book about homosexuality at the time of Oscar Wilde’s trial.
“The author has really researched their lives and written this novel about them meeting and writing the book, in the historical context of that time,” Carvalho explains.
3. Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Harvill Secker, Jul 6)
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah had a collection of short stories a few years back (called Friday Black), but this first novel is a dystopian imagination of where the American prison system could end up going. It’s about a sports league which pitches prisoners against each other for entertainment.
“It’s beautiful and brutal, with a really furious social commentary underpinning it,” says Carvalho.
4. Bellies by Nicola Dinan (Doubleday, July 6)
“This begins as a boy-meets-boy love story, but when the couple leaves university to go to London, one goes through the process of transitioning and the story is about what happens to their relationship from that. It’s a really beautiful, underrepresented love story in fiction,” says Carvalho.
5. In Memoriam by Alice Winn (Viking, Mar 7)
This is a story of forbidden love between two soldiers in the trenches of the First World War, where among the death and devastation they find fleeting moments of solace in one another.
6. Lady MacBethad by Isabelle Schuler (Raven Books, Mar 2)
This action-packed historical tale is a reimagining of the life of the Scottish queen who inspired the story of Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth.
7. Maame by Jessica George (Hodder & Stoughton, Feb 14)
This coming-of-age debut follows Maddie Wright, a 20-something British Ghanaian, as she navigates identity, love, loss and becoming the woman she wants to be, while caring for her father who has Parkinson’s. One for fans of Queenie. Read More…
