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    23 new books to get at your local indie today.

    Katie Yee

    February 7, 2023, 4:59am

    Big week for new books, with new titles from Salman Rushdie, Mariana Enriquez, Stephen Graham Jones, Priscilla Gilman, and more.

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    Salman Rushdie, Victory City

    Salman Rushdie, Victory City
    (Random House)

    “What’s important is that Victory City is a triumph—not because it exists, but because it is utterly enchanting. Words are the only victors.”
    –The Atlantic

    Mariana Enriquez, tr. Megan McDowell, Our Share of Night

    Mariana Enriquez, tr. Megan McDowell, Our Share of Night
    (Hogarth)

    “An ailing medium who can connect with the dead tries to protect his son from an insatiable darkness … Monumental.”
    –The New York Times

    Jen Beagin, Big Swiss
    (Scribner)

    “A fantastic, weird-as-hell, super funny novel.”
    –Bustle

    Stephen Graham Jones, Don’t Fear the Reaper
    (Gallery / Saga Press)

    “Horror fans [will] be blown away by this audacious extravaganza.”
    –Publishers Weekly

    Priscilla Gilman, The Critic’s Daughter
    (W. W. Norton)

    “Evokes both a uniquely brilliant and troubled man and the poignantly relatable essence of the father-daughter connection.”
    –Kirkus

    DK Nnuro, What Napoleon Could Not Do
    (Riverhead)

    “Spellbinding … In this compelling and insightful debut, Nnuro delivers a nuanced exploration of the American Dream’s broken promises.”
    –Esquire

    hungry ghosts

    Kevin Jared Hosein, Hungry Ghosts
    (Ecco)

    “Both a family drama and an acute study of social structure … A highly recommended story of family and class divides that will break readers’ hearts.”
    –Library Journal

    Charmaine Craig, My Nemesis

    Charmaine Craig, My Nemesis
    (Grove Press)

    “Craig offers an effective inquiry into the elusive nature of intimate relationships, whether they stem from love or hate.”
    –Booklist

    Mahogany L. Browne, Chrome Valley
    (Liveright)

    “Generous and expansive—a decidedly full work. Across her poems, Browne deftly creates atmosphere through juxtaposition and pacing.”
    –The Millions

    the black guy dies first

    Robin R. Means Coleman and Mark H. Harris, The Black Guy Dies First
    (Gallery / Saga Press)

    “Coleman and Harris write with keen observation, a satirical eye, and a genuine love for their subject.”
    –Kirkus

    Margaret Verble, Stealing

    Margaret Verble, Stealing
    (Mariner)

    “Verble’s skillful storytelling does justice to a harrowing chapter of history.”
    –Publishers Weekly

    Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, A Spell of Good Things
    (Knopf)

    “The story’s violent denouement is as devastating as it is inevitable. Pitch-perfect details provide a sense of the characters’ lives.”
    –Publishers Weekly

    Yuri Felsen, tr. Bryan Karetnyk, Deceit
    (Astra House)

    “We are trapped in the narrator’s head as we’re trapped in our own consciousness; this is Felsen’s power.”
    –The Irish Times

    Dizz Tate, Brutes

    Dizz Tate, Brutes
    (Catapult)

    “A surreal and ambitious debut novel … Brutes‘s adolescent cast, time-jumping narrative, and promise of violence evoke the hit show Yellowjackets.”
    –The Millions

    skull water

    Heinz Insu Fenkl, Skull Water
    (Spiegel & Grau)

    “A brilliant novel populated by a wonderful cast of characters and boasting a number of beautifully realized set pieces that will live in the reader’s memory.”
    –Booklist

    Kira Yarmysh, tr. Arch Tait, The Incredible Events in Women’s Cell Number 3

    Kira Yarmysh, tr. Arch Tait, The Incredible Events in Women’s Cell Number 3
    (Grove Press)

    “Yarmysh’s provocative debut offers a jaundiced view of life in a Russian detention center.”
    –Publishers Weekly


    Mark Whitaker, Saying It Loud
    (Simon & Schuster)

    “An essential volume in the history of Black liberation movements.”
    –Kirkus

    Isabel Waidner, Sterling Karat Gold
    (Graywolf Press)

    “[Waidner’s] explosive sensibility and style are as far removed from mediocre prose and middle-class manners as you can imagine. This alone is reason to read them.”
    –The New York Times Book Review

    stone blind

    Natalie Haynes, Stone Blind
    (Harper)

    “Feels at once bitingly (post)modern and filled with old wisdom … Stone Blind acts as a brilliant and compellingly readable corrective.”
    –The Guardian

    Jennifer Maritza McCauley, When Trying to Return Home
    (Counterpoint)

    “McCauley’s explosive debut collection crackles with moments of honesty, upheaval, and longing among families … Each story is a treasure.”
    –Publishers Weekly

    eastbound

    Maylis De Kerangal, tr. Jessica Moore, Eastbound
    (Archipelago)

    “With each new novel, de Kerangal secures her place as a writer of stunning, incisive, enrapturing fiction; it’s a boon to have this sensuous, soulful, and suspenseful earlier work so gorgeously translated into English by Jessica Moore.”
    –Booklist

    Carmela Ciuraru, Lives of the Wives: Five Literary Marriages

    Carmela Ciuraru, Lives of the Wives
    (Harper)

    “Carmela Ciuraru offers scintillating, no-prisoners-taking portraits of five marriages in which at least one partner was a well-known writer.”
    –Shelf Awareness

    WiseHours_FinalCover

    Miriam Darlington, The Wise Hours
    (Tin House)

    “A smooth mixture of memoir and nature writing … Lyrical and captivating … heartfelt, enchanting, and beautifully written.”
    –Kirkus

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