THE BEST NEW FICTION

The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman

Julietta Henderson Bantam Press €14.99 An uplifting tale of love, loss and the redemptive power of humour. Aged 12, Norman Foreman was half of comedy’s next big double act, set to debut at the Edinburgh Fringe – until his partner, Jax, died. Jax was the funny one, but when Norman asks his mum if they can find out who his father was, she organises a trip to Edinburgh to reckon with her past and get Norman onto the stage – solo.

Madeleine Feeny

My Phantoms Gwendoline Riley

Granta €14.99

Bridget, an academic, lives with her therapist partner and their rescue cat. It couldn’t be more different from her parents’ short-lived, explosive marriage. Her father is an economically sketched mediocrity who nonetheless exudes a manic, Dickensian menace; but it’s her mother’s needy reserve and withholding ways that continue to taunt Bridget. Riley’s seventh novel is a slender, quietly savage riposte to the sentimentality that so often obscures depictions of the parent-child bond.

Hephzibah Anderson

The High House

Jessie Greengrass Swift Press €16.99

In a house by the sea live three survivors of climate-change apocalypse. In turn, Caro, her half-brother Pauly and their friend Sal look back on the long litany of extreme weather events that have devastated the planet and left them isolated. Fortunately, the house was carefully prepared for the catastrophe – but now supplies are dwindling. Greengrass’s lyrical evocation of the coastal landscape and her grim vision of the future prove a potent, deeply disturbing combination. Anthony Gardner

The Khan Saima Mir

Point Blank €18.99 Saima Mir’s debut novel takes us deep into the heart of Yorkshire gangland. British Pakistani lawyer Jia Khan has left her family behind to forge a new life in London. But when her gangster father is murdered, she’s drawn back into the criminal underworld. The Khan is strong on illuminating the networks of family and community, giving fresh life to its familiar plot – essentially a Bradford take on The Godfather. John Williams