“Big Swiss” and other new books in February

“BIG SWISS,” BY JEN BEAGIN

Since she transcribes a sex therapist’s sessions, Greta, this novel’s unlikely heroine, is privy to all manner of intimate revelations. She falls for one, a married woman whom she thinks of as Big Swiss ( owing to her ancestry and cool detachment from her emotional wounds). Things become more complicated when Greta recognizes the woman at the local dog park — and they begin an affair. ( Scribner, Feb. 7)

“CULTURE: THE STORY OF US, FROM CAVE ART TO K- POP,” BY MARTIN PUCHNER

A Harvard professor goes wide in this study of the humanities and human creativity, looking at standout moments and what they can tell us about our past and future. As he guides readers along a Nefertiti to Tiktok continuum, he shows how cultural exchange and innovation help societies address some of life’s most existential questions. ( Norton, Feb. 7)

“THE CRITIC’S DAUGHTER: A MEMOIR,” BY PRISCILLA GILMAN

In this autobiography, the author grapples with her complicated and often painful upbringing in 1970s New York. Her mother is renowned literary agent Lynn Nesbit, but the real focus here is her late father, Richard Gilman, a drama critic and professor at the Yale School of Drama. After the marriage imploded, Nesbit shared revelations about her husband’s behavior with her adolescent daughter. ( Norton, Feb. 7)

“ESSEX DOGS,” BY DAN JONES

A bestselling historian turns to fiction in this story of the Hundred Years’ War, which follows a troop of mercenaries hired to help England invade France in the mid- 1300s. There’s plenty of action and bloodshed in this novel, the first in a promised trilogy. ( Viking, Feb. 14)

“LIVES OF THE WIVES: FIVE LITERARY MARRIAGES,” BY CARMELA CIURARU

Infidelity, jealousy, malevolent neediness — there’s all manner of abhorrent behavior in this study of some notably unhappy relationships. Roald Dahl resented Patricia Neal, an acclaimed actress, after her star power surpassed his. Elsa Morante and Alberto Moravia were terribly illsuited, even as they produced some of postwar Italy’s most enduring literature. “Lives” also includes a lesbian couple, Una Troubridge and Radclyffe Hall, who enact a common dynamic seen in the book — one partner who insists on suppressing the other’s ambition. ( Harper, Feb. 7)

“OUR SHARE OF NIGHT,” BY MARIANA ENRIQUEZ. TRANSLATED BY MEGAN MCDOWELL

Enriquez’s frightening short stories have made her one of the most popular Latin American authors writing today. This new novel follows a grieving father, Juan — a medium who can make contact with dark, supernatural forces — who tries to protect his son from the family of his late wife. ( Hogarth, Feb. 7)

“A SPELL OF GOOD THINGS,” BY AYOBAMI ADEBAYO

In her second novel, Adebayo looks at two young people in Nigeria with vastly different economic circumstances whose lives intersect amid a period of political and cultural struggle. Eniola dreams of getting a better education after his family slid into poverty, while Wuraola works as a hospital resident and came from a wealthier background. ( Knopf, Feb. 7)

“VICTORY CITY,” SALMAN RUSHDIE

In his first novel since he was grievously injured in a stabbing in August, Rushdie tells the story of a kingdom in southern India. Pampa is 9 when an encounter with a goddess brings her fantastical power: She speaks a mythical city into existence, tying her own fate to its destiny over the next 250 years. ( Random House, Feb. 7)

“WESTERN LANE,” BY CHETNA MAROO

In this debut novel, a Jain girl in London named Gopi copes with her mother’s death by dedicating herself to squash. She had always enjoyed the sport, but her new, intense regimen offers a distraction from grief, even as she encounters cultural and economic obstacles. ( Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Feb. 7)