For family dramas from the South, there is “The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster” by Shauna Robinson and “The Night of Baba Yaga” by Akira Otani, translated by Sam Bett.
for a gay, Kill Bill-style thriller set in Tokyo in 1979.
If you want to learn about America’s first well-known female crime boss – a Jewish mother in New York – there is the non-fiction book “The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum” by Margalit Fox. If the sea calls you, “Deep Water: The world in the ocean” by James Bradley offers more understanding.
The following books are about girls coming of age in 1950s Iran, a life-changing heatwave in 2019 London, chaotic celebrities in 1960s Rome, and much more.
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
It’s the 1950s in Tehran, and the death of seven-year-old Ellie’s father drives her and her mother from their usual comfort to a small house in the city center. Her grief and loneliness are fortunately alleviated by Homa, a girl she meets on the first day of school and becomes best friends with. Together, the two girls plan to become “lion women” while playing girl games. But then Ellie and her mother are offered some of their old, comfortable life back, and Ellie gradually becomes a popular girl at Iran’s most prestigious girls’ school. When Homa reappears in Ellie’s life, memories of their childhood together are just beginning to fade. Reunited, the girls come of age in a turbulent Iran and try to build a future of their own, even after a terrifying betrayal.
Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna
It’s London in 2019 and damn hot. It’s actually the hottest June ever and there’s also a whale stuck in the Thames (!?). There’s just a lot going on and in the midst of it all, the lives of four old friends are changed forever because of a party. Maggie, a waitress whose dreams of becoming an artist are shattering before her eyes, is preparing for the birth of her child. Ed, the father of Maggie’s future baby, is just gliding through life – he’s ready to become a father but has a secret past of meeting anonymous men in toilets. He also has a little secret past with Maggie’s boyfriend Phil. And now for Phil: things are looking up for him somehow. His office job is boring but his weekends are awesome and he’s about to start his first real relationship ever. But then the party takes place in the illegal camp commune where he and other idealists live and nothing is as before.
Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles
Fans of books like Catherine House and Crimson Peak will fill their little gothic hearts with Midnight Room. The year is 1840 in England when Orabella Mumthrope, a mixed-race orphan with no hope of a good marriage, sees the unkempt Elias Blakersby in her uncle’s drawing room. Elias wants to take Orabella as his wife, and her uncle, broke as he is, is only too happy to accept the offer. When Orabella arrives at Elias’ family estate, Korringhill Manor, the expected splendor is soon dashed by reality – the servants are overprotective, Elias’ family members behave awkwardly, and the manor itself is in severe disrepair. As Orabella begins to adjust to life at Korringhill Manor – with its attendant tea times with a catatonic sister-in-law and stuffy dinners – she begins to become ensnared in the manor’s gloom. She soon finds it difficult to distinguish between dark dreams and a reality from which she awakes bruised.
Not About a Boy by Myah Hollis
This young adult novel promises euphoria plus Girl in Pieces and follows Amélie Cœur, who has had a life of struggles so far. Now 17 and trying to pull herself together after the loss of a loved one, she’s ready to get along with the new, elite Manhattan family assigned to her by her foster agency. But a relationship with a boy and a sister she doesn’t remember threatens her newfound resolve.
Teddy by Emily Dunlay
I love a chaotic leading lady, and Teddy’s Teddy is just that. When she and her husband, a diplomat, move to glamorous 1960s Rome, she vows she’ll be good. This time. She’ll be charming and discreet, and demure and decent when she mixes with her husband’s colleagues and the other who’s who of the Italian capital – and she is, for a while. But then the Fourth of July comes and she suddenly finds herself up to her neck in a mess of her own making.
Masquerade by OO Sangoyomi
It is always a pleasure to see more West African fantasy, and Sangoyomi’s Masquerade sounds like a magical mixture of 15th century history and a free retelling of the myth of Persephone. In it, Òdòdó is already living as an outcast with the other women of her blacksmiths’ guild in Timbuktu when the city is conquered by the warrior king of Yorùbáland. Then the old girl is kidnapped and taken across the Sahara to Ṣàngótẹ̀. In this capital, she learns that the stranger who visited her guild a few days ago is her kidnapper, and the warrior king at that. It turns out that he has snatched Òdòdó to make her his wife, and through the forced marriage she rises to the highest ranks of society. There she cannot resist the machinations of battle and court politics.
More resources on new releases from Book Riot:
- All booksour weekly book release podcast where Liberty and some co-hosts talk about eight books that came out this week that we’ve read and loved.
- With the “New Books” newsletter, we send you by email the books that are coming out this week and are causing a stir.
- And finally, if you want real insider information on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! I find 90% of all new releases there and you can filter by trending books, Rioter recommendations, and even LGBTQ new releases!
