Best to come
2024 is already shaping up to be a stellar year for book lovers. Charlotte Heathcote picks the highlights…
FICTION
One Day author David Nicholls returns in April with You Are Here, a love story about lost souls Michael and Marnie who connect on a walk across the North of England.
Nicholls describes it as the funniest and most intimate novel he’s written and it’s one of the most eagerly anticipated reads of 2024.
One of my all-time favourite novels is Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn, and sequel Long Island is out in May. Eilis has been married for 20 years when a stranger knocks on her door and drops a bombshell, forcing her to question the choice she made two decades earlier.
The wonderful Lissa Evans returns in May with The Small Bomb At Dimperly. It’s set in 1945 as a soldier returns home to discover he’s heir to Dimperly Manor, where dependent relatives cling on to an outdated lifestyle. It promises a love story set in an era of seismic change.
Ten years after his death, a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been released from his archives.
Until August (out in March) tells the story of a woman who visits an island on the anniversary of her mother’s death and reflects on “freedom, regret and the mysteries of love”.
Clare Chambers, author of the brilliant Small Pleasures, returns in August with Shy Creatures. Helen is an art therapist at a psychiatric hospital who is having an ill-judged affair with a married doctor. The arrival of a new patient with a mysterious past changes the course of all their lives.
The Stranger Times by CK Mcdonnell was an absolute riot of a read in which the staff of a dysfunctional paranormal newspaper investigate otherworldly deaths. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and full of colourful characters. But newcomers can also start with the fourth book in the series, Relight My Fire, out this month.
Emily Henry’s novels are always an escapist treat. In Funny Story (out in April), Daphne is devastated when her boyfriend leaves her for his childhood best friend Petra. She suggests Petra’s ex-boyfriend Miles moves into her place so they can make ends meet. But could she be falling for her ex-fiance’s new fiancee’s ex-boyfriend?
I devoured Charlotte Wood’s brilliant The Weekend. Stone Yard Devotional is out in March, in which a burnt-out atheist takes refuge in a religious community in the Australian outback. But she can’t outrun the demons of her past.
In April, Percival Everett follows the Booker Prize-shortlisted The Trees with James, a “moving, harrowing and mordantly funny” reimagining of The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, told from the per- spective of the enslaved Jim.
Leonard And Hungry Paul was a breakout hit for Ronan Hession and, in Ghost Mountain (out in May), a small mountain appears out of nowhere, its appearance sending ripples through the lives of the locals.
Matt Haig returns in August with The Life Impossible, a story of “wild adventure and deep transformation” that shows how a new outlook can change everything.
An eagerly anticipated novel from writer and film-maker Miranda July lands in May. In All Fours, a semi-famous, middle-aged artist goes to astonishing lengths in her quest for freedom.
The Warm Hands Of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (February) is set in 1918 as field nurse Laura goes in search of brother Freddie, who went into hiding in No Man’s Land after being wounded. What otherworldly price will Freddie pay for his survival?
CRIME AND THRILLERS
The brilliant Kate Atkinson gives her spin on the classic country house murder in August. In Death At The Sign Of The Rook, private detective Jackson Brodie is investigating the theft of a painting when he’s stranded in the house by a snowstorm, while a shambolic Murder Mystery game plays out and a convicted murderer runs loose on the nearby moors.
One of the year’s most eagerly awaited thrillers is Chris Whitaker’s All The Colours Of The Dark (May). Teenager Patch is abducted and kept in a pitch-black prison where he falls in love with Grace. After he escapes, he vows to find her, while his best friend Saint sets out on the trail of the kidnapper.
Abigail Dean follows her gripping debut Girl A with Day One (March). Teacher Ava dies in a Lake District primary school, trying to protect her pupils from a gunman. The life of Ava’s daughter Marty becomes intertwined with that of conspiracy theorist Trent Casey, whose actions force her to confront the part she played in the tragedy.
Lucy Foley is sure to hit bestseller charts with The Midnight Feast ( June). On the Dorset coast, friends gather for the opening of the Manor Hotel. But deadly secrets come to light in a murder mystery with “a chilling dash of ancient folklore”.
In Precipice (August) by Robert Harris, Prime Minister HH Asquith’s indiscreet affair with an aristocrat half his age becomes a matter of national security that will alter the course of political history.
When Michael Crichton died, he left behind an unfinished manuscript which his widow describes as his “passion project”. James Patterson has finished the job and Eruption is out in June. A volcano has destroyed the island of Hawaii – but something even worse is about to unfold.
Former detective Cal Hooper returns in the latest book from Tana French. In The Hunter (March), he must protect half-wild teenager Trey from her own father, who has turned up in Ireland in search of gold. But Trey is on a mission for revenge.
Gillian Mcallister describes Tracy Sierra’s debut Nightwatching (February) as “the most gripping thriller I have ever read” and fellow fans include Linwood Barclay and Shari Lapena. A mother hears footsteps coming up the stairs one night during a blizzard. Does she hide, run or fight?
NON FICTION
Salman Rushdie reflects on the traumatic attempt on his life in August 2022 in Knife: Meditations On An Attempted Murder (April), a reflection upon “life, loss, love… and finding the strength to keep going”.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham joins Liverpool metro mayor Steve Rotheram for Head North: A Rallying Cry For A More Equal Britain (February). This timely book suggests practical ways to level up the UK.
In May, look out for Tom Selleck’s memoir You Never Know. The Magnum PI star looks back on his Hollywood success along with “his temptations and distractions, his misfires and mistakes”.
And in A Thousand Threads (September), Buffalo Stance singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry tells her life story, billed as “an extraordinary memoir of identity, art and acceptance”.
DEBUTS
Lorraine Kelly has set her debut novel on her beloved Orkney. In The Island Swimmer (February), a woman is forced to return to the family home on Orkney when her father falls ill. There, she joins a crew of cold-water swimmers who help her confront the mistakes of her past, unlocking secrets that will shake her family to the core.
Matt Coyne, better known as laugh-out-loud funny parenting blogger Man Vs Baby, has written his first novel. Frank & Red (February) is the story of the unlikely friendship between grieving widower Frank and the lively but troubled six-year-old who moves in next door.
Cathy Sweeney’s debut novel Breakdown ( January) is a masterful account of one woman’s dramatic rebellion against society’s demands. It’s compelling, exquisitely written and painfully perceptive.
In The List Of Suspicious Things (February) by Jennie Godfrey, it’s 1979 and little Miv and her best friend Sharon go on the trail of the Yorkshire Ripper. If they find him, perhaps Miv and her family won’t have to move. But through their investigations, Miv uncovers another mystery right on her doorstep.
Tom Newlands’ Only Here, Only Now ( June) is tipped for big success. Described as “heartbreaking and hilarious”, it’s the story of a Scottish girl with undiagnosed ADHD, trying to make sense of the world.
Billed as “Bridget Jones for the Fleabag generation”, the debut novel from playwright Anoushka Warden isn’t for the faint hearted. I’m F*cking Amazing (March) is a startlingly explicit exploration of one woman’s struggle to enjoy sex with the man she loves, her voice leaping off the page so vividly it reads like a memoir.