best new women's fiction

The Most Eagerly Anticipated Fiction by Women in 2022

Just in case you needed something to look forward to.

Even in the year of our lord 2022—and I, too, cannot believe we're already in 2022—much of what we consider literary canon is dominated by men. Per the VIDA Count, the overwhelming majority of literary publications mostly highlighted books by men in 2019 (the last year for which we have data). And per Nielson in collaboration with The Guardian , men are "disproportionately unlikely even to open a book by a woman." Which brings me to this: We need to be talking about books by women, not just to close the literary gender gap, but also because so very many books by women are so damn good . So, let's start with this: a round-up of the best fiction by women and non-binary authors coming out in 2022, just in case you needed something to look forward to. (And, let's face it, who among us doesn't?)

[Editor's note: We've taken a cue from VIDA Count here to consider non-binary "an umbrella term which includes people who are nonbinary, agender, genderqueer, gender nonconforming, two-spirit, or another identity outside of the gender binary."]

Part sci-fi, part dreamy drama, ‘The House Between Earth and the Moon’ follows the residents of Parallaxis—a luxury space station developed by tech giant Sensus—as they try to build a home for billionaires to escape Earth's increasing inhospitality. Meanwhile, the people they leave back home—particularly the family of Alex, a researcher seeking to create a carbon-guzzling algae—are struggling with both their present and futures.

Some of the best contemporary fiction is YA, and ‘All My Rage’ is one of the strongest new examples. This moving—and at times devastating—book follows best friends Noor and Salahudin as Sal tries to save his family’s motel and Noor tries to strike out on her own.

Described as a refreshingly modern 'Sex and the City,' 'Wahala,' the buzzy debut novel from Nikki May, follows three Anglo-Nigerian best friends in London whose dynamic is shattered by a fourth addition to the group. I read it in a single sitting.

Most books about serial killers focus exclusively on the murderer and their acts. Not ‘Notes on an Execution,’ which centers several women who are not victims nor co-conspirators of fictional serial killer Ansel Packer. Anything but gratuitous, this beautifully written book does overtime as a suspense-driven mediation on the true crime industry.

Taking inspiration from the Anna Delveys of the world, ‘Cover Story’ is a delicious read about a young intern who gets caught up in a breathtakingly opulent—if claustrophobic—scheme (or four). No spoilers here, but I’m still thinking about that ending.

This frank and moving debut by Jean Chen Ho, told in short stories from differing eras and perspectives, follows a pair of Taiwanese American best friends as they navigate grief, ambition, and the changing realities of their friendship.

Like ‘A House Between Earth and the Moon,’ this thoughtful novel asks jarring questions about our future with real emotional depth. Frida is a doting mother to her daughter Harriet, until she makes a single mistake—and suddenly, the government is debating whether she’s a candidate for a terrifying tech-driven program that measures what makes a “good” or “bad” parent…and if Frida “deserves” to keep her child.

This layered family drama by debut author Jendella Benson follows Glory Akindele, a prodigal daughter who returns to London from L.A. to find her family shattered. Glory's journey to put them back together leads her to question everything she believed about them.

Yanagihara is set to be one of the literary greats of our generation, and her third novel shows exactly why. You'll lose yourself in this sweeping epic that's really three novels in one—which, told together, tell an unforgettable story about the American experiment.

A shot of joy in book form, 'When You Get the Chance' follows Millie, a lovable Broadway wannabe on a search for her birth mom—using her dad's old LiveJournal. Big-hearted and bursting with emotion, you'll devour this coming-of-age story.

The new YA thriller by Jessica Goodman—whose debut, 'They Wish They Were Us,' is in development as an HBO Max series—is about an elite summer camp rocked by a sudden death. Told with Goodman's signature sense of place, 'The Counselors' is a delicious and layered thrill ride.

The best books about grief find a way to illuminate the darkness of loss, and 'Remarkably Bright Creatures' offers a masterclass. Van Pelt's debut follows Tova, a woman shattered by the death of her husband and disappearance of her son, who forms an unlikely bond with a giant octopus at the aquarium where she works.

If you loved Yellowjackets , you'll be obsessed with fomer Marie Claire editor Colleen McKeegan's debut—a coming-of-age thriller about a long-ago summer camp secret that threatens to destroy Amanda Brooks's life. Read an excerpt.

In Hariri-Kia's captivating first novel, aspiring writer Noora believes she's hit the jackpot when she's hired as the assistant to Loretta James, editor-in-chief of Vinyl— the magazine that practically raised Noora. But the job that a hundred other girls would die for comes with some...complications, like the dramatic stand-off between the print and digital teams, Loretta's unhinged demands, and Noora's crush on Vinyl' s hot IT guy, to name a few. You'll love this insightful—and incredibly fun—deep-dive into media and sisterhood.

Perfect for book clubs, Erlick's The Measure is equal parts charming and thought-provoking. It takes a philosophical question—what if everybody on earth knew exactly how long they had left to live?—and explores, with compassion and pragmatism, how the implications would trickle down into every area of modern life, from politics to intimacy.

Jennifer Weiner is back with the third edition of her loosely interlinked 'Summer' books, all of which are set on Cape Cod and all of which are, in a word, delightful. 'The Summer Place' is about a wedding on the Cape that, as it draws nearer, forces several family members to face long-buried secrets. As with everything Jennifer Weiner, the characters are sketched so vividly and with so much empathy that you'll miss them long after the last page.

Of all the books I've read in 2022, this is the one I was saddest to finish. Obuobi's sharply written protagonist, Angie Appiah, jumps off the page: the third-year medical student is complex, type-A, and very, very funny. Part rom-com, part coming-of-age story, Obuobi traces Angie's journey as she navigates the changing demands of friendships, the expectations of med school, the demands of her Ghanaian parents, and the untimely arrival of an extremely sexy graphic designer. Did I mention this debut has close to five stars on Goodreads across the board?

Sheila Yasmin Marikar's debut dives head-first into the dark side of wellness and the promise of one's quote-unquote "best self." Anita flees New York for sun-drenched LA, where she stumbles across an elite workout class, the Goddess Effect, run by the dazzling Venus, that promises to upgrade everything about her life. But as Anita gets deeper into the world of the Goddess Effect, she realizes that nothing about Venus and her "class" is what it seems.

Nobody does a rom-com like Lindsey Kelk, and 'On a Night Like This' is up there with her best. It's hard not to fall in love with Fran and her Cinderella-inspired adventure: In a matter of days, Fran is whisked from gray London to a celebrity-packed yacht in the Mediterranean, where Fran hits it off with a guest she never expects to see again. As with all Kelk's books, you'll feel like Fran's friends are yours—and you'll laugh a lot .

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Jenny is the Digital Director at  Marie Claire . A graduate of Leeds University, and a native of London, she moved to New York in 2012 to attend the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She was the first intern at Bustle when it launched in 2013, and spent five years building out its news and politics department. In 2018, she joined  Marie Claire , where she held the roles of Deputy Digital Editor and Director of Content Strategy before becoming Digital Director. Working closely with Marie Claire 's exceptional editorial, audience, commercial, and e-commerce teams, Jenny oversees the brand's digital arm, with an emphasis on driving readership.

When she isn't editing or knee-deep in Google Analytics, you can find Jenny writing about television, celebrities, her lifelong hate of umbrellas, or (most likely) her dog, Captain. In her spare time, she also writes fiction: her first novel, the thriller  EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD , was published with Minotaur Books (UK) and Little, Brown (US) in February 2024 and became a USA Today bestseller. She has also written extensively about developmental coordination disorder, or dyspraxia ,  which she was diagnosed with when she was nine. She is currently working on her second novel.

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The 13 Best Women's Fiction Books Of 2022

We really are living in the golden age of content, and it is more clear than ever in the books that were published in 2022. From phenomenal debut novels to highly-anticipated follow-ups from renowned authors, readers of women's fiction, in particular, have experienced an incredible year of literature.

It can be hard to navigate the hundreds of thousands of books that come out each and every year, so we've created this list to highlight some of the absolute best women's fiction releases of 2022. In our opinion, these are seriously must-reads. Whether you're a fan of high-tension thrillers, time travel, mysteries, or steamy romances, we're confident that at least one of these novels will call to you.

If you've set a resolution to read more books in 2023 or are hoping to squeak in a few more novels before 2022 comes to a close, there is arguably no better way to spend some free time than with your nose in one of these great novels.

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

Danya Kukafka isn't exactly new to the literary scene — she published her first book, "Girl in Snow," back in 2017; however, her 2022 release, "Notes on an Execution," is what's really put her on the literary map. A gripping, unique look at the psyche of a serial killer told through the perspectives of three women whose lives have become permanently altered by his actions, this novel is a fascinating addition to the thriller genre, which has become somewhat monotonous.

In an interview with Write or Die Magazine , Kukafka explained that this book was largely born out of her own contempt for crime stories that glorify serial killers and erase their victims' from the narrative. Speaking of popular crime shows (such as "Law & Order: SVU" and "Criminal Minds") specifically, she said, "I felt like, this cannot possibly be the whole story. We see this narrative over and over again. The show opens on the dead body, the detectives come in, they solve the murder, justice is served. Even as a teenager I had the thought, like, what about everybody else?"

"Notes on an Execution" aims to answer this question by focusing on the lives that are impacted by acts of violence rather than the violent acts themselves.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

In their most recent novel, Akwaeke Emezi ventures away from their usual genre of choice (young adult) into romance for the very first time, and the result is a beautiful and complex portrait of love, loss, and healing. "You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty" tells the story of Feyi, a young woman attempting to navigate the dating scene while grieving the loss of her late husband. This book is sexy, moving, and magnificently written — if you're someone who typically avoids romance novels at all costs, this may be the one to change your mind about the genre.

Much like thrillers, romance books tend to be pretty homogenous in terms of their characters, plot, and structure. While talking to Marie Claire back in May, Emezi described the realization that their romance didn't have to follow any rules that they didn't want it to. "It [reading newer romance books] also helped me realize that I could write a romance the way that I wanted to, and give myself the permission to write without trying to make it fit convention," Emezi explained. "You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty" is certainly an unconventional romance, and that's what makes it so outstanding.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Deemed one of the 100 most notable books of the year by The New York Times , Gabrielle Zevin's "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" is a one-of-a-kind story about the spectacular bond between two lifelong friends who find themselves dominating the video game design industry. Sam and Sadie's relationship has revolved around video games since the day they first met back when they were only 11 years old, and this continues to be the case decades later as they collaborate on the creation of blockbuster-level games.

What appears to be a straightforward story about friendship flawlessly delves into topics of disability, grief, and even cultural appropriation, all told in Zevin's stunning, accessible voice. "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" is Zevin's 10th book and, it's any indication of what we can expect from her in the future, her writing is only going to keep getting better. It's really no wonder that this novel was chosen as the best fiction book of 2022 by the Goodreads Choice Awards .

The Maid by Nita Prose

The Goodreads 2022 Choice Awards winner for Best Mystery and Thriller, Nita Prose's "The Maid," is a story around a hotel maid, Molly Gray, who finds herself the lead suspect in the murder investigation of a man whose body she discovered while working. Molly has had a hard time reading social cues for as long as she can remember, but she's always been able to tune out bullies and go about her quaint, happy life — until the police investigating the murder misread her awkwardness for guilt.

This is a heartwarming debut that has humanity at its core, and it's a mystery that you will love to uncover alongside Molly. As Prose said in an interview with Rakuten Kobo , "I wanted the story to be a journey of the spirit, to be uplifting. ... I found that I could very quickly reveal to the reader that we are in the world of the mystery and then slowly scene by scene evolve them to understand that this was going to be also a journey of growth."

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

In her debut novel, "Black Cake," Charmaine Wilkerson tells the heartwarming story of two siblings grappling with their mother's death and the confusing, life-altering gift they inherited from her. In this story, Benny and Byron are taken on a journey that leads them across the world and back to their mother's famous black cake, a Caribbean classic, in search of the truth about the woman who raised them.

This story was actually inspired by the black cake recipe that belonged to Wilkerson's late mother and, according to the author, her book expresses the idea that "the handling of food counts as much as the eating of it" (per Parade ). As she told BookPage , "The cake symbolizes the history of this family, in which the children, who are now grown, really don't know the half of what their parents went through."

This is a story that anybody can relate to, and it is an absolute pleasure to read, even as it explores the profound and painful topics of grief and loss.

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

In 2022, it was undoubtedly time for there to be more queer representation in the romance genre — and we got exactly that from Ashley Herring Blake's novel, "Delilah Green Doesn't Care." In this book, which was a 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards nominee for Best Romance, Delilah and Claire find love in the last place they expected — their small hometown, which holds painful memories for both of them. This is a touching romance that has all of the best elements of a rom-com but also explores much more than just one couple's love story — it touches on the importance of friendship, family, and loving yourself above all else.

When asked by Stuck in Fiction what she hopes readers take away from this novel, Blake answered, "I hope that readers see the complexity and beauty of queer life, friends, and family. ... I also hope they see this book as a queer romance that everyone can and should read, not only queer audiences." We agree, and we recommend this book to anybody who enjoys reading romance.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

This is the only young adult book on this list, but it's such an impactful story that we just had to include it. Sabaa Tahir's "All My Rage" is about grief, loss, forgiveness, and strength. Even though it's told from a younger perspective than the other titles on this list, the emotions it captures are as complex and powerful as those within the rest of these books.

Told through alternating perspectives of two teenage best friends, Salahudin and Noor, "All My Rage" is a portrait of intergenerational trauma and the racism that is perpetuated in the small, white-washed town of Juniper, California. This novel is largely inspired by Tahir's own childhood, which she discussed in an interview with Elle . "It really started as a book about the motel where I grew up and the people who were tenants there, and then it transformed and became a book about the people who ran the motel," she said. "Then in 2017, after someone I knew overdosed on fentanyl and passed away, it started becoming a book about trauma and addiction."

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Science Fiction, "Sea of Tranquility" is Emily St. John Mandel's much-anticipated follow-up to "Station Eleven." A mystical and tender story that centers around time travel and the simulation theory, this novel is one that even those who aren't particularly interested in science fiction can find enjoyable. The author's captivating voice comes through clearly in this book, and even if that's what originally draws you in, the emphasis on human connection and compassion is what will convince you to stay.

Mandel had just started writing this book before the pandemic started, and the worldwide tragedy came to really influence this story's evolution. Don't let that scare you away, though. As Mandel told an interviewer for Esquire , "I see 'Sea of Tranquility' as very much a product of the pandemic in that way. It's a book I don't think I would've written, if not for this weird time that we've all just lived through. That being said, it's not a bleak book. There's a lot of humor and joy in there, I hope."

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Emily Henry is undoubtedly one of the biggest romance authors at the moment, and her May release, "Book Lovers," is a charming, clever love story between two unlikely characters that proves exactly why she's garnered such stardom in the world of books. Nora and Charlie are self-established, independent bookworms who definitely aren't looking for love, but when the two repeatedly stumble into one another while Nora is on a girls' trip with her sister, they decide that maybe it's time to surrender to fate.

Simultaneously lighthearted and profound, this novel is an incredible exploration of its two main characters — their pain, fears, and love. As Henry said in an interview with Scary Mommy , "I don't really know how to get into characters' heads without figuring out the worst thing that's ever happened to them. ... There were so many drafts of 'Book Lovers' just trying to get it to feel funny enough and light enough while still having these heavier moments." With the popular "Beach Read" and "People We Meet on Vacation" already under her belt, Henry is at the top of her game with "Book Lovers" — the hype is absolutely real.

Other People's Clothes by Calla Henkel

Calla Henkel's debut novel, "Other People's Clothes," is a modern, fresh take on the classic thriller, and it's one of the most fun, unique books we've read this year. Zoe, traumatized from the recent murder of her best friend, escapes to Berlin to study abroad and (hopefully) begin to heal. She becomes friends with another exchange student and shortly after, the two move into an apartment run by an eccentric landlord who's a renowned thriller writer. They soon begin to suspect that they are the subjects of her next story, and their lives are forever changed because of it.

"The characters of my novel all feed on aspiration, a want to become something, performing versions of themselves in a hall of mirrors, hoping to catch the truth," Henkel wrote of her book in  iNews . If you enjoy a slow burn, "Other People's Clothes" is a thriller centered around fame, murder, and grief that will take you on a journey you will never expect, even as you're reading it.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Surprisingly, this is the second time-travel novel on this list, but this one revolves less around science and theory than "Sea of Tranquility." Emma Straub's "This Time Tomorrow" is a twist on "13 Going on 30" that digs a lot deeper than the classic 2004 film. Funny and tender, this novel is as endearing as it is heartbreaking, mainly focusing on the painful and complicated experience of grieving someone who hasn't yet passed.

In "This Time Tomorrow," Straub navigates a situation near and dear to her heart — her father was hospitalized during the pandemic with a heart condition, and seeing him in such physical distress took a big toll on her. As the author shared with  NPR , "Writing is such a powerful way of getting inside your feelings, at least for me, in a way that I don't really have access to in another way." She continued, saying, "I know how much time the loved ones really have to sit with the inevitability of their loved one's death. And I certainly did that with my dad while I was working on 'This Time Tomorrow.'"

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour

Nina LaCour's first venture into adult fiction, "Yerba Buena," is an incredibly touching story of pain, grief, and healing told through the love story of two young women. Sara and Emilie have been carrying trauma and pain for their entire lives, so it isn't easy for them to trust one another — even though their instant connection is undeniable and intense. This book is heartbreaking yet thoroughly hopeful, and it will take you on a roller coaster of emotions as you watch two resilient characters grow through their struggles toward love.

"Yerba Buena" is another novel that encompasses both literary fiction and romance, and it's the perfect story to help you ease into the romance genre if that's one you usually keep at arm's length. Also, this book has incredible queer representation, which LaCour talks about in an interview with Bustle . "This book is one tiny element of queerness and what it means and what all of that encompasses. I think of it as a prism, and I love being one little part of it in this book. Queer love is so expansive, and I think one of the amazing things about it is when we're writing stories that don't begin with the assumption of straightness and just a cis-gendered, heterosexual relationship, then we have so many possibilities, right?"

Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

Tara M. Stringfellow's debut, "Memphis," is a gorgeous historical fiction novel that tells an important, relevant story of intergenerational trauma, freedom, and womanhood. After escaping her father's violence, Joan, her mother, and her younger sister take refuge in Memphis, living in the house that her grandfather built before he was murdered. While navigating the grief that's been passed down her family for centuries, Joan discovers that she already has access to everything she needs to heal, and she begins to turn to the women in her life for the wisdom she can now recognize that they hold.

"Memphis" was influenced by Stringfellow's musings on her own family's fraught relationship with the United States. As she told The Independent , "We have to live in this country with white folk wearing these hats telling us, basically, to go back to Africa, that the last time this country was great was when we were enslaved. It was maddening. I didn't know what else to do: it was write 'Memphis' or set fire to my country."

Best women's fiction books 👩

Curated by our reviewers this week

MONDAY 20th MAY, 2024

Women's fiction, and now there's zelda.

Carolyn Clarke

Brimming with emotion, escapism, and excitement, the perfect dramedy for fiction book clubs!

Reviewed by Aurora Eliam

The Tender Silver Stars

Pamela Stockwell

A memorable, character-driven read that takes you back to the early 1970's to solve an old mystery and bring lives together.

Reviewed by MJ Campbell

Watch What She Can Do

Nicole Brooks

Equal parts entertaining and contemplative. A must-read novel for the everywoman.

Reviewed by Selena Sison

The Bow Tie

Susan Glenney

This riveting novella follows award-winning teacher Jennifer after repressed memories resurface, leaving her questioning her sa...

Reviewed by Hayley Hoatson

Mary Not Broken

Deborah L. King

A woman's thirty-year journey of death, abuse, and religious reckoning to keep what she never thought she'd have: Love. One for...

Reviewed by Angela Harrell

Pleasant Bay

Emily Wakeman Cyr

This summer read isn't like any other summer read I've read before. An amazing book I couldn't put down.

Reviewed by Camia Rhodes

What We Never Say

Paulette Stout

An important topic dealt with in a compassionate way that will leave readers both heartbroken and hopeful for the future.

Reviewed by Zooxanthellae Deckard

The Still Small Voice

Brenda Stanley

An engaging and exciting read that examines life in an LDS community from the point of view of an outcast daughter.

Reviewed by Elaine Graham-Leigh

Paper Targets

Patricia Watts

Absolutely amazing. Join two amazing women on their amazing adventure as they make men feel the wrath of a woman they've wronged.

Reviewed by Fatima Aladdin

Hope Hanna Murphy

E.D. Hackett

Life is a roller coaster where you don't know the next turn. This book will leave you feeling the same. Highs and lows. Smiles ...

Reviewed by SIGY GEORGE

What's Not True — A Novel

Valerie Taylor

A dramatic, comedic telenovela of a women’s fiction about infidelity and fickle hearts

Reviewed by Sacha T. Y. Fortuné

Lucy McGee's Moment of Truth

I was captivated by the first chapter. The conflict is very visible from the very beginning and that was what reeled me in.

Reviewed by Boakye D Alpha

Stitches: A Witty, Relatable, and Engrossing Women's Fictio...

Kathy Weyer

What does it take to reinvent your life while coming to grips with your past?

Reviewed by Bookish Cow

A Quiet Dissonance

Poornima Manco

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and would recommend it to every woman. There’s a bit of Anu in all of us!

Reviewed by Chandra Sundeep

What's Not Said

A zany, witty telenovela of a women's fiction, about the lies we tell each other and ourselves.

Fadi Zaghmout

Laila: When a woman takes the proverbial reins. She dies doing what she loves but that is only part of the story.

Reviewed by Andrea Smith

Life’s A Peach

Freedom comes at a price that can't always be paid with daddy's credit card.

Reviewed by Wymanette Castaneda

Serena Fairfax

A story of family dramas with memorable characters in a vibrant, unusual setting

Reviewed by Meg Stivison

Twelve: Stories From Around the World

An assorted collection of short stories about love, jealousy, greed, revenge, hatred and more!

Reviewed by Satabdi Mukherjee

The Glass Boxes in which We Live

Beatrice Sylvie

Few books in life have a lasting impression that make you pause and think. This is one such book that will kick you in the guts...

Till Medicine Do Us Part

Christiana Jones

Till Medicine Do Us Part examines modern-day struggles that raise social concerns while keeping focused on the Jacksons' person...

Reviewed by Heather Gallagher

Terms and Conditions

Helen J. Darling

Terms and Conditions by Helen J. Darling is a captivating unpredictable tale of one woman's life-changing move to New York City.

Reviewed by Kim VanderWerf

P.W. Borgman

Windfall is a lovely book. The characters are complex and interesting, the situations very relatable - I enjoyed it!

Reviewed by Fallacious Rose

A THREAD SO FINE

Susan Welch

A touching story about family; A Thread So Fine will captivate and enlighten you.

Reviewed by Katherine Williams

Back To Reality

Joanna and Yohanna have a connection – a connection that will take them to the edge of reality and beyond. It's twisty & bah-lu...

Reviewed by Abbey Lile-Taylor

Welcome our new women's fiction reviewers 👋

Apply to become a reviewer.

Sacha T. Y. Fortuné

Women's fiction.

Author, editor (15+ yrs) & avid reader/reviewer of most genres. When I love a book, I LOVE a book. Please share the love and upvote my own novel via: sfortuneauthor.com/upvote ***Note: Instead of Reedsy tips, you can directly support my Reviews via: ko-fi.com/sfortuneauthor***

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SIGY GEORGE

I am open to trying new things. Being a librarian reading keeps me alive and helps me live new lives each time I read.

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The Best Fiction Books » Best Fiction of 2023

The 2023 women’s prize for fiction shortlist, recommended by cal flyn.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Every year, the Women's Prize for Fiction highlights the best novels written by women over the previous twelve months. In 2023, the six-strong Women's Prize shortlist features the latest books by beloved bestsellers Barbara Kingsolver and Maggie O'Farrell, plus a debut novel set during the siege of Sarajevo and a book told primarily from the point of view of a dolphin.

Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris

The Marriage Portrait: A Novel by Maggie O'Farrell & narrated by Genevieve Gaunt

Pod by Laline Paull

Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

1 Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris

2 demon copperhead by barbara kingsolver, 3 the marriage portrait: a novel by maggie o'farrell & narrated by genevieve gaunt, 4 pod by laline paull, 5 fire rush by jacqueline crooks, 6 trespasses by louise kennedy.

The creation of the prize was not without controversy—A.S. Byatt, for example, famously refused to allow her books to be entered , feeling it to be a “sexist” idea, that assumed the existence of “feminine subject matter.” However, it is true that—despite women both publishing and reading more books than men— men far are less likely to read books by women , books by women are less likely to be reviewed in mainstream outlets , and books written from the point of view of women or featuring female protagonists are far less likely to receive literary awards . Research in the UK suggests a disparity of more than 40% between the average earnings of male and female writers. The prize was originally founded in response to the 1991 Booker Prize shortlist , which featured no books by women although 60% of the novels published that year had been written by female authors.

Given the multitude of literary prizes whose entries are restricted to specific demographic categories (Pulitzers, for example, are restricted to writers who are American citizens , while there are countless prizes targeted at specific age groups ) it does not feel entirely outlandish for a prize to be limited to female or female-identifying writers. Certainly, despite Byatt’s fears of being tarred by inclusion on such a list, the prize has become one of the UK’s most agenda-setting literary awards; shortlisted titles can expect a big bounce in publicity and sales, and far greater visibility in bookshops. Previous winners include such modern classics as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun ,  Zadie Smith’s On Beauty , Eimear McBride’s  A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing , and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin .  Last year the £30,000 prize was won by Ruth Ozeki’s The Book of Form & Emptiness .

In 2023, the Woman’s Prize for Fiction shortlist comprises six books, placing novels by first-time authors head-to-head with work by big hitters like Barbara Kingsolver and Maggie O’Farrell.

Morris’s debut novel is set during the Siege of Sarajevo—a four-year ordeal in which the city’s residents were trapped in their homes without heating, power, or clean water, and subjected to daily shelling and sniper fire. She told  The Irish Times that it was partly based on the experiences of her mother’s family, and that she and her sisters had spent the war in London, “watch[ing] the news anxiously each night, scanning faces for a glimpse of a relative.”  Black Butterflies,  whose title references the ash that would flutter down over the city, follows the painter and art teacher Zora who has refused to leave the city as she adapts to this harrowing new normal. It’s been shortlisted for a number of other prizes, including the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize (for ‘evoking the spirit of a place’) and the Author’s Club award for first novels. It will suit fans of humane and literary war novels, such as Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong .

Demon Copperhead  by Barbara Kingsolver

A daring reimagining of the David Copperfield story, transposed to an opioid-ravaged Appalachia, from the author of The Poisonwood Bible   and  Flight Behaviour . It is, declares Elizabeth Lowry in  The Guardian,  a “ferocious critique of institutional poverty and its damaging effects on children” and the book Kingsolver “was born to write.” Damon Fields, nicknamed ‘Demon,’ was born to a drug-addicted young mother in a Virginia trailer park, then orphaned and passed from home to home. The Dickensian plot transfers remarkably well to contemporary America—worryingly so—and Kingsolver’s Demon speaks with a verve and intensity that is difficult to put down. Demon Copperhead has found both critical and commercial success, having won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and been selected for Oprah’s Book Club.

The Marriage Portrait  by Maggie O’Farrell

O’Farrell’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to  Hamnet   (which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020) is based on a scandalous real-life story from Renaissance Italy. Young aristocrat Lucrezia de’ Medici was married off at 15 to the much older Duke of Ferrara. The match was brief and unhappy. When the duchess died less than two years later, there were strong suggestions that she had been poisoned on the orders of her powerful husband. O’Farrell’s novel is richly atmospheric and deeply researched, although she has altered some historical details for narrative effect. It met with a somewhat mixed critical reception on publication but has found a wide and largely appreciative fan base. If you enjoy lushly descriptive historical fiction, this will be the book for you.

This novel is written from the points of view of marine creatures, including a spinner dolphin living mutely among bottlenose dolphins, and a parasitic remora fish. But don’t get the wrong idea—this is not Finding Nemo; there are graphic scenes of (species-appropriate) rape and environmental disaster, so come prepared. Pod takes an unflinching look at human impacts on the underwater world, seen from below the surface, just as Paull’s earlier book, The Bees (also shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, back in 2015), offered an insider’s view of the succession scandals within the alien—one might even say dystopian—culture of a honeybee hive. It’s creative, challenging, and quite literally immersive. One for open-minded readers with an interest in animal behaviour and writing from unusual perspectives.

The fifth book on the 2023 Women’s Prize shortlist is Jacqueline Crooks’  Fire Rush , another debut that made a huge splash on arrival. Fire Rush is set between London, Bristol, and Jamaica in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is written partly in patois, and brings readers into a world of gangsters, raves, and police brutality. “I believe that literature and music intersect and so I wanted to bring that strong dub reggae soundtrack into the telling of this story,” the author told the Chicago Review of Books . “I did a lot of experimenting with language, dub reggae sound effects, and toasting lyrics to tell the story of this sub-culture in a way that evoked that time and place and the extraordinary people within it.” It’s a novel with a strong sense of setting, community, and musicality—one that is drawn from the author’s own experiences and took sixteen years to write.

Trespasses  by Louise Kennedy

Trespasses, set in 1970s Northern Ireland, is Kennedy’s first novel and it has found considerable acclaim—garnering endorsements from the likes of Sarah Moss, Max Porter , and Nick Hornby. It follows a young, female teacher who falls for a married man as The Troubles tear their community apart. He’s a barrister, he tells her, but this is a place where it doesn’t matter what you do—it’s all about “what you are.” They must keep their relationship a secret from everyone they know, for their own safety as much as for marital continuity. The New York Times called it “brilliant, beautiful, heartbreaking.” Kennedy, who started writing fiction in her forties, previously published a well-regarded collection of formally inventive short stories, The End of the World is a Cul de Sac . 

Despite the statistics given above, it does seem the tide has been turning . Female writers have been increasingly dominant on fiction shortlists in recent years, prompting some to mourn the decline of the “literary bloke” , or wonder aloud where all the young male novelists have gone . The literary gender gap is now, in fact, most exaggerated in nonfiction; an equivalent prize for factual writing by women will be launched by the same organisation in 2024 . Whether or not you agree with the concept of gender-specific prizes, here’s to hoping that there’s little call for them in the not-so-distant future.

June 13, 2023

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Cal Flyn is a writer, journalist, and the deputy editor of Five Books . Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape , her nonfiction book about how nature rebounds in abandoned places, was shortlisted for numerous awards including the Baillie Gifford Prize, the Ondaatje Prize, and the British Academy Book Prize. She writes regular round-ups of the most notable new fiction, which can be found here . Her Five Books interviews with other authors are here .

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Must-read books by women, as chosen by our readers

From acclaimed works of fiction and poetry to unforgettable memoirs and eye-opening non-fiction, these are our readers' favourite books to mark International Women's Day.

Left out of the literary canon for so long that even masters such as George Eliot  and Jane Austen were forced to adopt male pseudonyms or obscure their names, the last few centuries have finally made the necessary space for women authors to write – and then re-write – a new one.

As International Women's Day approaches, we asked our readers to tell us about wonderful books by women they love reading, discussing and recommending to others. The result is a brilliantly broad-ranging list of classics and modern masterpieces anyone with a love of great fiction – or non-fictions, memoirs, poetry and more – will enjoy.

And if you find this useful, check out our list of our readers'  100 favourite classic novels , learn about their  favourite children's books  and see the  best memoirs  they've ever read. 

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

We say: Alice Walker dedicated most of her academic career to researching and upholding Zora Neale Hurston's long-overlooked work. A vital, heady read.

You say: Once read, never forgotten. An emotional journey from girlhood to middle, through race, oppression and femininity. It reads like poetry.

Linda M on Facebook 

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2017)

We said:  Yaa Gyasi’s award-winning debut is a harrowing, vivid and generation-hopping story of two sisters separated by slavery in the 17th Century. Homegoing  follows their descendents, taking us from the 'Gold Coast' of Africa to the plantations of Mississippi and the dive bars of Harlem in a breathtaking retelling of Black history. 

You said: Homegoing should be read by everyone. One of the most beautiful and ambitious books of the past decade.

allmanbrown, Instagram

Things I Don't Want to Know  by Deborah Levy (2014)

We said: Using George Orwell’s famous essay ‘Why I Write’ as a jumping-off point, Deborah Levy offers her own reflections on life as a writer and the many challenges she faced in finding her voice as a woman who writes. A reflective book full of wit and quiet brilliance.

You said: Deborah Levy’s living memoir Things I Don’t Want to Know is absolutely incredible. I know you said one but it’s too hard to choose!

Books ranked in no particular order. Some answers have been edited for clarity and style.  

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New Women’s Fiction for 2023

What is women’s fiction? This genre marker can be confusing, because so many titles that are considered women’s fiction would just be considered fiction if they were written by (or about) men. Like most genres, it is really a marketing term, but it can be helpful to understand what is generally mean by the term, especially if you tend to enjoy books that fall under the women’s fiction umbrella!

Women’s fiction includes books that center women and focus on (so-called) women’s issues, such as family, friendships, and intersecting oppressions. The books can be contemporary or historical, and may be romance or include a romantic plot line. Some women’s fiction is also considered literary fiction, while some is on the chick lit/beach read side of the imaginary divide. Some thrillers are women’s fiction, and indeed nearly any genre can also be considered women’s fiction.

Generally speaking, the primary theme of women’s fiction novels is self-fulfillment, whether it’s a coming-of-age story, a middle aged divorcee learning who she is without a partner, or a workplace drama where an under-appreciated employee learns to speak up for herself. The plot almost always involves major outside forces in the form of life changes out of the protagonist’s control, and the internal journey she takes from beginning to (fulfilled) end.

Read on for our list of the best new women’s fiction coming to your shelves in 2023 and a few of our favorites from 2022!

Most Anticipated 2023 Women’s Fiction

Small world by laura zigman.

Joyce has been divorced for a year and is ready to enjoy being single when her sister Lydia, newly divorced, moves in with her and they are forced to confront family secrets and remember their other sister, who died when they were children.

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

Geeta’s husband disappeared five years ago, and the rumor in her village is that she killed him. She doesn’t contradict her neighbors’ belief, because it means she is mostly left alone…until other women start asking for her help getting rid of their husbands, and they aren’t all willing to take no for an answer.

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

This historical novel fictionalizes the real life Mitford sisters, following Nancy as she tries to help stop the Nazis from taking over England, and the way the political and the personal intersect for her.

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn

Unexpected circumstances find longtime personal assistant Georgie leaving Los Angeles and moving back to her hometown, where she finds her teenage diary, full of “friendfic” ideas for her future. She finds herself becoming roommates with former town bad boy Levi and trying to make some of her teenage dreams reality.

Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

Maggie is broke, divorced, and running really late on her graduate thesis. This debut novel by TV and screenwriter Heisey ( Schitt’s Creek ) follows a year in the life of a 29-year-old rediscovering herself and reinventing her life.

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

Rachel is enslaved at Providence Plantation in Barbados, and when the the Emancipation Act of 1834 comes into affect, the plantation owner announces that all of his formerly enslaved workers are now apprentices and must stay for another six years. So Rachel runs away and tries to find her children, who were sold to other slavers. From Barbados she travels to British Guiana and then to Trinidad, determined to ensure that her children are free so that she can be.

Great 2022 Women’s Fiction

Wahala by nikki may.

Three Anglo-Nigerian friends welcome a fourth woman into their group, and at first she brings out the best in everyone, but soon the newcomer’s presence sows chaos and group dynamics change.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

Katy is reeling from her mother Carol’s sudden death and decides to take their planned trip to Italy solo. As she begins to find peace, Carol suddenly appears as a 30-year-old, and Katy has the chance to get to know her mother all over again.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Alice’s life at 40 is…okay, except for the fact that her father is dying. Then she wakes up on her 16th birthday and has a chance to relive their relationship.

A Hundred Other Girls by Iman Hariri-Kia

Noora lands a job as the assistant to the editor-in-chief of Vinyl , her favorite magazine. She hopes this will open the door to her dream of writing for the magazine, but her new boss is a total nightmare and Noora is stuck in the middle of a turf war between the print and digital teams.

Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn

Yinka’s aunties think she’s too modern and should be married by now, while her friends think she is too traditional. Her girlfriends want her to get over her ex, and her cousin just got engaged. So Yinka goes in search of a date for the wedding, all the while looking for herself.

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

This historical fiction tells the story of Sylvia Beach, an American who opened a bookstore in Paris in 1919: Shakespeare & Company, which would become a second home to writers like Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce.

They’re Going to Love You by Meg Howrey

A coming-of-age story about an aspiring ballerina with a gay father during the AIDS crisis, this book examines ambition, artistry, and family.

If you’re looking for even more great women’s fiction recommendations, try  TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations ! TBR is a personalized book recommendation service that sends you books you’ll love to read. Here’s how it works: Simply fill out the reader survey and let us know what you want more of and what you’re not keen on. Then, an expert Bibliologist will read your responses and recommend three books just for you. There are two subscription options: receive your recommendation letter via email in about two weeks — perfect for library users! — or opt to receive your recommendations as brand new hardcovers in the mail in about three to four weeks.  Learn more and sign up now !

New Releases in Women's Literature & Fiction

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Miranda July is widening and expanding women’s lives with her new novel: ‘Fiction is my superpower’

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On the Shelf

By Miranda July Riverhead: 336 pages, $29 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

Miranda July is known for her whimsical characters and uncanny, intimate stories of what it means to be human. Her first major film, “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” premiered to acclaim in 2005, and a collection of short fiction, “No One Belongs Here More than You,” won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award upon its publication in 2007. With a background rooted in DIY, zines, video and performance art, it’s easy to spot July’s influence on the zeitgeist, especially in the practice of “being online,” in memes, social media and other performances, public or personal.

July has hit a creative, life-giving stride, at 50, with her new novel, “All Fours” — her first since 2015’s “The First Bad Man.” A visit to her new home/old office in Los Angeles, just before her appearance at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, revealed a place chock-full of creative energy. July has been renovating a new living space with her trademark joy. It was obvious how much pleasure she takes in her new butter-colored cabinets and artworks from friends. After celebrating her 50th birthday in February, July flew to Milan to launch her first solo museum exhibition, “New Society,” at the Prada Foundation, giving her just enough time to race back to the States for the publication of “All Fours” on Tuesday.

Kathleen Hanna is a troubadour unafraid to speak out

Kathleen Hanna’s memoir, ‘Rebel Girl,’ is a bold portrait: a crucial book about feminist politics and art and a tender examination of a woman who survived abuse and sexual assault.

May 2, 2024

“It’s not getting more boring,” she says about life. “It’s only getting weirder and weirder!”

Speaking about the genesis of the novel, which tells the story of a “semi-famous” artist who decides to take a road trip from L.A. to New York, leaving her husband and child at home, but instead pulls into a hotel less than an hour from L.A. and falls in love with a car rental employee, July found a tender spot in her life when it came to getting older.

“I’m the kind of person who is always excited about my future and it seems like there’s a lot to hope for,” July said. “But around 40, I started to get worried about the coming years. When I looked forward, it looked shocking ... it was a narrowing and dimming of the road ahead. What was it going to be like for my body, my face, my sexuality? My conversations with other women were getting more radical and everyone was questioning everything. But it’s all this whisper network. Because, the shame. The shame is like this cork that’s holding all of this vivid life back.”

“All Fours” began as a chronicle of women’s lived experiences, with each chapter bearing the name of a different woman. July had thousands and thousands of notes on her phone with anecdotes from real life, “fleecing them for the narrator,” she said. Ultimately, the book changed form. “Fiction is my superpower,” July said, “all my previous work is super character-y. But there were some moments in ‘The First Bad Man’ that were more honest, more personal, and they were some of my favorite moments in the book. I thought, ‘I want to take that further.’”

The result is a novel that presses into that tender bruise about the anxiety of aging, of what it means to have a female body that is aging, and wanting the freedom to live a fuller life. Like all of July’s work, “All Fours” is a wild ride. It is deeply funny and achingly true. On what she feels is her marital responsibility to her husband, the narrator tells readers “sometimes I could hear Harris’s dick whistling impatiently like a teakettle, at higher and higher pitches until I finally couldn’t take it and so I initiated.” While making lunch for her child, she relates: “The problem wasn’t the lunch, it was what came after, the whole rest of my life.” When she feels shame about spending hours on the phone with her best friend, Jordi, she remembers: “It was my one chance a week to be myself.”

July’s fans may realize that the “semi-famous” narrator of “All Fours” and July have much in common. July posted on Instagram in 2022 that she and her husband, filmmaker Mike Mills, had separated romantically but were still a loving family. But she’s not too worried about the autobiographical nature of the book. “Map me on to the character, that’s fine. I could write like this forever. It’s like a character played by me. I can do anything I want with her. Compared to other writers, like my friend Sheila Heti or writers like Annie Ernaux, I feel very old-school nerdy because I’m coming up with characters and plot twists and I’m a little Hollywood in my love of a big reveal!”

Sheila Heti recounts the ABCs of her evolution in new book of diary entries

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Feb. 5, 2024

That said, incorporating her personal experience into the book proved difficult. July works continuously and energetically on her craft. “I was writing at pace with my life,” she said. “There were perspective shifts that I would have that I would want my character to have that usually I would have months or even years to process before turning it into fiction. By the end, I was writing and throwing things out to get to the level of writing fiction. But I’m so proud that I did ride the wave and it took me to a fictional shore that felt like my truth.”

When asked how writing a book differs from other media, July said she felt like it was another kind of performance. “So much of writing is improv — you are improvising on the page. I do a lot of reading out loud, and I can hear where the reader is a little confused. There’s a ‘will it play’ quality that you ask about in performance, and there’s that feeling with the reader too.”

There is a bit of magic involved in making that connection. July looks forward to readers absorbing her book once it’s out into the world. Her last film, “ Kajillionaire ,” was released during the pandemic, and it was the first time she read reactions in her DMs. “I asked everyone if I could screenshot and post their responses because everyone felt so alone, and I wanted them to see that they are not alone because their responses were so similar. That’s useful for me — the feeling that you threw the ball out and it was caught. It’s not falling forever through space.”

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Oct. 1, 2020

Reading “All Fours” feels like being seen, like being caught and held, making those connections and realizing that our experiences are not so isolating — in fact, that the narrowing and dimming of the road ahead is like a movie set. It looks real from the front, but behind there’s nothing of substance. Nothing to be afraid of. July’s commitment to widening the space when it comes to our sexuality is joyfully radical.

“Often when I finish a project, I’m like, ‘Whew! Thank God I don’t have to work in that medium for a while!’ But I don’t have that with this book,” July said. “It’s a bit confusing because this is not my creative pattern but the voice of the narrator is still with me. I was joking with a friend, I said, ‘What am I going to do, write “All Fives?”’ That would be a terrible title.”

Ferri is the owner of Womb House Books and the author, most recently, of “Silent Cities San Francisco.”

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The Best Fantasy and Sci-Fi Books of 2024, So Far

Yearning for a new world? New stories from Heather Fawcett, Nisi Shawl, Danielle L. Jensen, Sofia Samatar, and more can get you there.

Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.

The books that got me into books were fantasies. There was never a time in my life—post-infantile amnesia, I suppose—when I wasn’t reading a fantasy, being read a fantasy, or trying to write one myself. (Usually all three.) The same goes for science fiction: These were the types of stories that made reading feel limitless, thrilling, like peeking through a keyhole to a vaster (if not necessarily kinder) universe. As I’ve grown older, my reading habits have expanded, my understanding of genre widened, but well-executed fantasy and sci-fi remains my deepest source of literary joy. So it’s a pleasure to present ELLE’s picks for the best of those genres in 2024—through May, for now.

For the purposes of this list, speculative stories will be considered science fiction, while fairy tales, folktales, and mythological retellings will fall under the vast and complicated banner of “fantasy.” Romantasys will fall into this category as well. (You can find our other romance recommendations here .) There’s plenty of genre overlap ahead, but that’s the joy of these books—there’s always something (seemingly) contradictory to explore within them.

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Within moments of cracking open the cover to Marie-Helene Bertino’s Beautyland , I was sold. She has followed up her 2020 novel Parakeet with a landmark work of literary science-fiction, set in the crosshairs of “two celestially significant events occurring simultaneously: The departure of Voyager 1 and the arrival of Adina Giorno, early and yellowed like old newspaper,” the author writes. As the Voyager 1 space probe sets its sights on the final frontier, so does the child Adina make a home for herself on Earth. But she is, in many ways, no less foreign to the planet than Voyager 1 is to the outer galaxy: Adina discovers that she’s been sent by her extraterrestrial relatives to report back her earthly findings, all via fax machine. (“Upon encountering real problems, human beings compare their lives to riding a roller coaster, even though they invented roller coasters to be fun things to do on their days off,” Adina notes in one such missive.) This is a wonder of science fiction: as tender and intimate as it is conceptually courageous.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

The eagerly awaited follow-up to Heather Fawcett’s first title in the popular Emily Wilde series, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is a winsome tale of fairies and academia, an ideal pick for fans of cozy fantasy. Set in 1910, the story follows the titular Emily, a faerie scholar who’s completed an encyclopedia of Fair Folk and is working next on a map of the creatures’ realms. But her relationship with the exiled faerie king Wendell Bambleby promises to complicate much more than her research, particularly as she and Bambleby hunt for the door back to his kingdom—and attempt to dodge his family’s assassination attempts. Clever, immersive, yet approachable for more casual readers, Map of the Otherlands is a genre-blending joy.

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

An inventive, vivid take on the Chosen One narrative, Kamilah Cole’s So Let Them Burn is the sort of young-adult fantasy novel both teenage and maturer readers will enjoy—particularly given Cole’s knack for juggling action-heavy dual perspectives. The premise involves 17-year-old Falon, whose ability to wield the power of the gods provides the strength she’ll need to liberate the island of San Irie from the colonizing forces of the Langlish. But her sister has unexpectedly bonded with a dragon from the Langley Empire, and when those dragons turn feral, the gods inform Falon she must eradicate them—and those bonded to them. Desperate to save each other, Falon and Elara flesh out this tale from alternating third-person perspectives in Cole’s exhilarating first entry in a promised series.

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

In Tlotlo Tsamaase’s future Botswana, consciousness can be delivered from body to body, making the life of protagonist Nelah possible. Her body used to belong to a criminal, which means the government has her microchipped: Her husband can control her, and the government can watch and assess her every move. Nelah is waiting for her child—gestating in an artificial womb—to arrive, but before that can happen, she and the man she’s in love with (a man who’s very much not her husband) commit a dangerous crime. The resulting fallout haunts Nelah (sometimes literally) in this sci-fi horror novel’s resolute skewering of misogyny.

Kinning by Nisi Shawl

The next entry in Nisi Shawl’s anti-colonial alternative history series, the second after Everfair , Kinning is a profoundly well-realized feat of world-building. Sprawling in its characters and themes, vaguely reminiscent of Game of Thrones’ political dramas, Shawl’s afrofuturist sequel explores the aftermath of Everfair’s Great War, the country having successfully pushed Europe out of the territory. Citizens plan to spread further peace via a fungus that generates empathy in those who interact with its spores, even as Everfair itself remains threatened from outside and within its borders. This is a complex, challenging story, but without question an impressive one.

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

Faebound —with its simply stunning cover—takes place in a world where elves, humans, and fae once co-existed, but now only elves remain, and they’re eternally at war. Sisters Yeeran and Lettle soon find their lives bifurcated by the fighting: Yeeran is exiled outside the Elven Lands, and Lettle must pair up with one of Yeeran’s soldiers, Rayan, to find her lost sibling. Only then do they each discover that the fae are alive and well, and that the magic in store for them is well beyond what they’d once expected. This is a passionate and intriguing—but accessible—beginning to a planned Sapphic romantasy trilogy.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Tainted Cup is the beginning chapter of Robert Jackson Bennett’s Shadow of the Leviathan series, and it imbues elements from myriad genres—primarily fantasy, sci-fi, and mysteries—to create a delicious detective story set in an equally unforgettable magical world. In Bennett’s Khanum, where massive leviathans threaten the world outside the empire’s walls, an imperial officer is murdered in an aristocrat’s summer home. Two detectives, Ana and Din, must tackle this mystery. Together, they make something of an odd couple: Ana’s brilliance rivals that of Sherlock Holmes himself, while Din is a magically enhanced “engraver,” one with a perfect memory. These lead protagonists’ platonic partnership, and Bennett’s remarkable imagination, make this book a strange and singular thrill.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

There’s an intentional silliness to Ali Hazelwood’s paranormal romance Bride , in which the vampires are “Vampyres,” the werewolves are “Weres,” the protagonist is named Misery, and her marriage of convenience to a “very powerful and dangerous Were” might actually be...something more? But this on-the-nose humor, a signature in Hazelwood’s work, only serves to underscore the shameless indulgence of Misery’s story. Bride will certainly not enrapture all fantasy readers (particularly those wishing to avoid sex scenes), but for Hazelwood’s many existing fans, this surprise genre twist from the contemporary romance author has plenty of winks to impart.

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

Heartless Hunter , an instant New York Times bestseller, has already amassed a sizable (and passionate) audience, but it’s certainly not too late to pick up this addictive romantasy, which tracks the love affair between a persecuted witch and a witch hunter. Protagonist Rune comes from privilege, but after a revolution seizes power from the once-ruling witches, she’s now hiding in plain sight: socialite by day, witch vigilante by night. (Alias: The Crimson Moth.) Working to protect her people from witch hunters, she decides to court one of them; he, in return, agrees to the relationship to gain intel about her operations. But just as their fake relationship blooms into something deeper, their political ties could easily break them apart. Relentlessly trope-y? Sure. But this is a satisfying binge-read nonetheless.

Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner

Hannah Kaner follows up the first book in her Fallen Gods series, Godkiller , with Sunbringer , set immediately after the events of its predecessor. Brilliant mythology-inspired world-building paves the foundation for Kaner’s fantasy adventure, but it’s the fully realized ensemble cast that, ultimately, makes the series so memorable. In Sunbringer , Kissen, Inara, Skediceth, Elogast, and King Arren trade third-person perspectives as a war between gods and humans bubbles into the foreground in Middren, seeding fertile ground for an epic showdown to come.

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

“Foxes, people say, are wicked women,” Yangsze Choo writes in her historical fantasy The Fox Wife , set in early-1900s Manchuria as the Qing dynasty wanes. Choo (author of The Ghost Bride and The Night Tiger ) introduces readers to Snow, a fox spirit who can shapeshift into a woman, and Detective Bao, who believes Snow is connected to a murder. But Snow, living as a human and working as a maidservant, has her own mission in mind: She wants revenge against the photographer who paid a hunter to murder her daughter. Folklore and mystery converge in Choo’s alluring, atmospheric tale.

A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

I know better than to buy a book based solely on its character art, but there’s no denying the cover of Danielle L. Jensen’s A Fate Inked In Blood (illustrated by Eleonor Piteira) merits the attention. Blessedly, the book’s inside contents are just as richly rendered. The latest story from fantasy stalwart Jensen ( The Bridge Kingdom series, The Dark Shores series), Fate centers on Freya, a young woman trapped in a loveless marriage—loveless enough that her husband betrays her, setting off a series of events that culminates in a shocking reveal: The blood of a goddess runs in Freya’s veins. That blood makes her powerful, but it also makes her a target for Skaland’s jarl, who believes his fate is tied to Freya’s. Still, it’s this jarl’s son, Bjorn, who will prove the most complicating factor in Freya’s fight for survival. This is an absorbing viking romantasy steeped in Norse mythology, and the start to a series with real momentum.

The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed

“They locked him up while his leg grew back.” So begins The Siege of Burning Grass , Premee Mohamed’s ferocious story of violence and resistance in a world of wound-healing wasps and floating cities. Protagonist Alefret is a peacemaker—or, anyway, he’s trying to be—but he’s since been targeted and imprisoned by his own government, then ordered to go undercover in the rival empire of Med’ariz. There, he’s tasked with seeding an anti-war effort amongst the people, an effort which Alefret’s government aims to capitalize on—and claim victory at last. But revolutions are costly in more ways than one, and Mohamed navigates these nuances with empathy and righteous verve.

The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black

As a childhood enthusiast of The Spiderwick Chronicles , I’ve loved watching Holly Black’s fantasy career evolve, and her conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology, The Prisoner’s Throne , is a treat for old fans and newcomers alike. In the fairy world of Elfhame, Black has created a entertaining tableau of political intrigue and romance—most notably between High King Cardan and High Queen Jude (iykyk). And as war beckons in The Prisoner’s Throne , the imprisoned Prince Oak finds his loyalties (and his love) stretched to the brink.

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

One of my most anticipated reads of the spring, Sierra Greer’s feminist sci-fi Annie Bot is much as I’d hoped it would be: frightening but measured, referential but fresh. The titular Annie is indeed a robot—a Stella model coded as a Cuddle Bunny, to be exact—designed for use by Doug, who’s customized her into a near-mirror image of his ex. She does housework; she does...other things. She can set her internal body temperature and read Doug’s annoyance rankings. He can set her libido levels. (“A four’s good,” he says. “She’s, like, ready at a four, but not actively assertive.”) As Annie notes early in the novel, “I only exist because I’m wanted.” These themes are certainly not new, but it’s how Greer writes this mash-up of Ex Machina , Her , Westworld , and The Stepford Wives that makes its tension resonate so loudly, even if it’s meant more as an allegory of women’s liberation than a treatise on the threats of AI. A quick read, but one you won’t soon wipe from memory.

Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson

Although set in the same universe as her debut, The Space Between Worlds , Micaiah Johnson’s Those Beyond the Wall is set 10 years after the events of the former, and can be read as a standalone. (But you should definitely read The Space Between Worlds .) This clear-eyed, undaunted sci-fi saga introduces readers to a woman who goes by the name of Mr. Scales, a street-savvy “runner” living outside the walls of the gleaming Wiley City, in a far poorer desert community known as Ashtown. After she witnesses a friend’s gruesome death, she follows the breadcrumb trail to the multiverse-hopping technology residing inside Wiley City. But to stop this tech (and its users) from destroying the people of Ashtown, she’ll need to rely on more than her own wits. Gritty and raw, this is a fine work of dystopian fiction, one sure to chafe and unsettle as much as it thrills.

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

To start, what an absolutely fabulous title. Peace Like A River author Leif Enger’s latest is so much more than its cheeky cover; in fact, it might be one of the most optimistic post-apocalyptic novels you’ll ever read, if also one of the more unusual. In Enger’s imagined near-future America, the president is proudly illiterate, pandemics and wildfires are growing by the hour, and an entirely new class of billionaires known as “astronauts” are happy to watch from above as the plebs flee their now-closed schools for solace in drugs and government labor. But protagonist Rainey does not see the end of the world as a black hole, especially when he looks to his wife, Lark, who runs a bookstore in spite of the enormous risk inherent in doing so. It is his unflappable faith in goodness that leads him, much like Orpheus, to sail Lake Superior in search of Lark when a visitor unexpectedly tears them apart. This is a triumphant, generous work of art—neither cloying nor nihilist.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House, Hell Bent, and Six of Crows author Leigh Bardugo steps into the Spanish Golden Age for a fantasy remarkably unlike her previous works. The Familiar is a stunning accomplishment, set in 16th-century Madrid, where the Inquisition haunts Luzia Cotado, an orphaned “not quite Spanish” scullion with a hidden talent for magic—and Jewish blood that puts her at imminent risk. When her mistress discovers Luzia’s unique skillset, she puts them to use, attracting the attention of the king’s secretary and his familiar, the immortal Guillén Santángel. With Santángel’s help, Luzia might just be able to survive—or even thrive—but, as any fantasy reader can tell you, power always has its consequences.

A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

A Sweet Sting of Salt is an altogether entrancing retelling of the traditional folktale “The Selkie Wife,” in which a man steals a selkie’s skin and forces her to become his wife. (Selkies, as a refresher, are mythological creatures who take the form of seals in the ocean and humans on land.) In Sting , the selkie in question is discovered by midwife Jean Langille on the coast of 19th century Nova Scotia, where she’s wracked with birthing pains. Jean helps deliver the woman’s child, and soon surmises this mysterious stranger is Muirin, the wife of her fisherman neighbor, Tobias. But Tobias and Muirin are clearly hiding some sort of secret, and as Jean slowly realizes she’s falling in love with Muirin, so too must she face the danger that threatens them both should their relationship continue. A beautifully written Sapphic fantasy, Sutherland’s debut announces her as a writer to watch.

The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna

Rania Hanna’s debut novel The Jinn Daughter is a lush and mesmerizing story of motherhood and magic, its influences pulled from Middle Eastern mythology. Protagonist Nadine has a daughter, Layala, whom she’ll do anything to protect. But Nadine is also a jinn, one who tells the stories of the dead through the pomegranate seeds she collects each morning. Soon, Death herself arrives on Nadine’s doorstep—she has come for Nadine’s half-jinn daughter Layala, whom Death wants to replace her as the underworld’s ruler. This is not a fate Nadine can accept for Layala, and so a fight for her daughter’s life commences. This is a short but sweeping story of a mother’s unrelenting devotion.

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Domination Meets Inspiration in a Consuming Affair Between Artists

R.O. Kwon’s second novel, “Exhibit,” sees two Korean American women finding pleasure in a bond that knits creative expression and sadomasochism.

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By Alexandra Jacobs

EXHIBIT, by R.O. Kwon

“Everything was beautiful at the ballet,” goes the famous song from “A Chorus Line,” but of course backstage there are blisters, anorexia and worse, like the feathers popping out of Natalie Portman’s back in “Black Swan.”

Hypnotic and sometimes perplexing, R.O. Kwon’s second novel, “Exhibit,” literalizes the twinning of pain and art with a ballerina character who is an actual sadomasochist.

Kwon’s protagonist, Jin, is a photographer who becomes interested in portraiture after drifting away from God. “People, not relics, I thought, at which point the images began rioting to life.” At a party thrown by a guy named Irving in the rarefied quarter of Marin County, Calif., she encounters the ballerina, Lidija: a principal, known for her floating jump, who bypassed the slog of the corps. She’s tattooed and unfazed by an injured leg.

“It was a lifelong allure, the gloss of a bold, strong girl,” Jin thinks.

Inconveniently, she has come to the party with her husband, Philip, a film producer, whom she met at a college called Edwards that readers of Kwon’s widely heralded and more plot-packed first novel, “ The Incendiaries ,” will recognize. Indeed one of Jin’s photography projects — in a sort of “Black Swan”-like authorial doubling — is to reimagine an alternate ending for that book’s protagonist, Phoebe, who rather than rejecting religion was sucked into a cult. Jin swaps out pictures of Phoebe for historical images before showing her piece publicly so as not to offend one of their mutual acquaintances.

Part of Lidija’s appeal is that she argues for aesthetic integrity over tact or propriety. Their sex, described discreetly, is a kind of performance art. The two women rendezvous in Irving’s turret, both menstruating. The ballerina smears blood on her own hip as Jin, an old burn wounded and then soothed, snaps away. “You’re like a wild thing at a kill,” Lidija tells her. “Stained in triumph.”

’Tis the season for outré novels of marital malcontent among the creative class. But all three in this triangle have had to compromise in order to get along in mainstream America.

Lidija, who like Jin is Korean, changed her name from Iseul (Kwon supplies the Korean lettering for this and other words) at age 5 to sound more Slavic. Philip, though he would “pass as being white,” as Lidija points out, was born Felipe in Spain. And Jin has suppressed longing to be hurt sexually, knowing it conforms to a stereotype of Asian women as “pliant, subject. Ill-used and glad of it.”

Philip, moreover, is not a fan of kink, the theme of a short-fiction anthology Kwon co-edited in 2021. As another song goes — he’s vanilla, baby. And speaking of babies, though the couple agreed from the outset of their relationship not to have children, he’s changed his mind. “It’s the scent,” he says with bafflement, sniffing a friend’s infant’s head.

The trio argues about gradations of racism, and the boundaries of art. (“If I’m hollering, it isn’t ballet,” Lidija insists. “It might be art. But it’s just not ballet.”) We’re asked to envision a lot of avant-garde creations; tons of triptychs and tableaus. Philip describes a movie of a dancer yelpingly en pointe on the lid of a piano with knives strapped to her feet, as the original Little Mermaid felt.

Jin once imagined that she was born “as a partial fish,” Lidija compares her own flaking sunburned skin to fish scales, and they discuss fish folk tales. I’m not sure entirely what to make of this, except that fish are beautiful, fragile creatures with significance in religion.

Complicating matters further is the ghost of a kisaeng, a Korean courtesan, who supposedly died alongside a firstborn son far back in Jin’s lineage, when she was not allowed to marry. According to family lore, this spirit has the power to destroy relationships. Between chapters she tells Jin what really happened to her, in little spritzes of sarcasm and profanity. “Oh, it’s like a dragon’s tail, oh, how will I fit it in?” she mocks the rich old men who took her to bed.

“Exhibit” is quite short: barely over 200 pages, and sometimes I did wish the kisaeng, full of vim though she is, would haunt another novel so I could get back to what was going on with Jin and Lidija and Philip and Irv.

An English-speaking reader doesn’t need a Korean dictionary beside the book, though she might occasionally need an English one. A polemic accusing Jin of blasphemy is not thrown in the trash but “shied.” After being hit with a riding crop and forced to eat olives and currants off a floor — “Exhibit” is a feast of various food and drink — Jin feels her flesh “floresced.” Kwon stretches and pauses the language to its outer limits, as if in a series of tendus and arabesques.

Chunks of her prose could also be torn out and put in a poetry book, no problem. On fame: “I knew it to be pyrite dross, a tinsel jinx.” Nude swimmers are “blue nereids, plume-tailed.” As much as commas, Kwon favors semicolons, which Kurt Vonnegut infamously called “transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing”; if so, her novel is not just an exploration of BDSM in contemporary relationships, but a transvestite hermaphrodite convention, to which one is both privileged and perhaps slightly puzzled to receive an all-access pass.

“Exhibit” is a highly sensory experience, awash in petals and colors, smells and flavors, that adds to the literature on a proclivity much discussed and often misunderstood. It lingers like a mysterious, multihued bruise.

EXHIBIT | By R.O. Kwon | Riverhead | 224 pp. | $28

Alexandra Jacobs is a Times book critic and occasional features writer. She joined The Times in 2010. More about Alexandra Jacobs

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An assault led to Chanel Miller’s best seller, “Know My Name,” but she had wanted to write children’s books since the second grade. She’s done that now  with “Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All.”

When Reese Witherspoon is making selections for her book club , she wants books by women, with women at the center of the action who save themselves.

The Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro, who died on May 14 , specialized in exacting short stories that were novelistic in scope , spanning decades with intimacy and precision.

“The Light Eaters,” a new book by Zoë Schlanger, looks at how plants sense the world  and the agency they have in their own lives.

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

Florida women drive 500 miles from Jacksonville to Key West in toy cars to 'save animals'

Two 29-year-old Florida women who have been best friends since Kindergarten embarked on a 500-mile journey together, and not by way of automobiles or other traditional forms of transportation, but rather motorized toy cars.

Cassie Aran and Lauren Lee have been doing challenges and documenting them on social media for years, including traveling 45 miles in Heelys and kayaking in a cheap inflatable kayak to an island in Tampa Bay, but this time they wanted to do the "next big thing."

The women initially planned to break the Guinness World Record for the longest journey in a toy car by driving down the coast of Florida from Jacksonville to Key West.

"We wanted to do something bigger than anything we've ever done," Aran told USA TODAY. "We've been best friends since Kindergarten so we've done a lot of crazy stuff together, but we wanted to do something just a little bit bigger."

Their TikTok videos documenting their road trip have amassed hundreds of thousands of views.

Fundraiser organized for Best Friends Animal Society

The drive would also be for a good cause as the women hoped to "save animals along the way" by organizing a fundraiser for Best Friends Animal Society . As of Friday, over $16,000 has been donated, surpassing the women's goal of $10,000.

"We shout (the fundraiser) out in our videos and are trying to do our best to help the Best Friends Animal Society... the main thing they do is end kill shelters and start more humane options," Aran said. "It's a big passion of mine personally because I have a rescue dog."

In addition to the fundraiser, the women will also donate proceeds from their merchandise sales to the Best Friends Animal Society, Aran said.

Guinness World Record wanted to make Cassie Aran and Lauren Lee pay an 'exorbitant fee'

Although the initial plan was to break the Guinness World Record, the women learned halfway through their journey that they would have to pay $16,000 to have their names in the records book.

"We received an email from (Guinness World Record) essentially saying it's free to attempt any record, but since we were raising money, it technically put us into a different category," Lee said. "We weren't just individuals doing this anymore, it put us into a corporate category."

The women had to decide between paying an "exorbitant fee" or helping the animals, according to Lee.

"We decided the animals were obviously more important than the title," Lee said. "It's something we can always do again, we love doing stuff like this anyways."

How did the idea to drive toy cars 500 miles come about?

The idea behind driving toy cars 500 miles originated from the women driving Barbie Power Wheels when they were girls growing up in New Jersey, Lee said. Their childhood experiences encouraged them to try driving in toy cars again, so around two years ago, they drove 35 miles from Tampa to Clearwater, she added.

Their 35-mile trip in toy cars from Walmart evolved into them driving nearly $1,800 toy cars together for 58 days straight, according to Lee. The two will finish their adventure on Saturday morning when they cross the finish line in Key West, where the city's mayor and commissioner will be issuing them a certificate saying they completed their travels, she said.

Cassie Aran and Lauren Lee aren't biting 'each other's heads off'

Lee called the experience with Aran "phenomenal" despite people leaving comments wondering how haven't "bit each other's heads off."

"Through all the years we've learned what each other needs in those moments of being tired, hungry, fed up or whatever," Lee said. "After a long day, we know how to keep the spirits up... I feel like we've communicated very well through the whole thing."

Aran said sometimes it did get discouraging because some days their on the road for 16 hours trying to make it to their destination, and "just everything's going wrong" from the car breaking to the battery going dead.

"Sometimes it can get scary or discouraging but then the other one always tries to pick the other one up," Aran said.

'It's about the little steps'

People can take away from the women's whole experience that they "don't have to make massive strides every day," Lee said.

"It's about the little steps that you take in those days on the way to your big goal," she said. "No dream is too big to achieve... we just took it day by day, anything is possible."

Aran said their journey should encourage people to get out of their comfort zones.

"I would love people to look at this and just do something that makes them a little bit uncomfortable," she said. "That's the only way to grow."

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Just for good measure, researchers at a Boston hospital have determined whether it’s better to measure exercise goals in minutes or steps .

“We recognized that existing physical activity guidelines focus primarily on activity duration and intensity but lack step-based recommendations,” said lead study author  Dr. Rikuta Hamaya, who works in the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“With more people using smartwatches to measure their steps and overall health, we saw the importance of ascertaining how step-based measurements compare to time-based targets in their association with health outcomes — is one better than the other?” Hamaya continued.

According to the  Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans , adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle strengthening a week. Step recommendations from experts, meanwhile, have varied based on research.

For the latest analysis, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine , 14,399 healthy women 62 years and older wore devices to record their physical activity for seven consecutive days between 2011 and 2015.

Researchers found that participants typically engaged in 62 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week, accumulating 5,183 steps a day.

During the nine-year follow-up period, some 9% of participants had died and about 4% had developed cardiovascular disease .

The most active 25% of participants — by step counts or time — reduced their risk for death or cardiovascular disease by 30% to 40% compared with the least-active quarter.

And those in the top 75% of physical activity outlived those in the bottom quartile by about two months.

Ultimately, researchers found that choosing between steps or minutes may not be as important as setting a fitness goal that fits into your lifestyle.

“For some, especially for younger individuals, exercise may involve activities like tennis, soccer, walking or jogging, all of which can be easily tracked with steps,” Hamaya said. “However, for others, it may consist of bike rides or swimming, where monitoring the duration of exercise is simpler.”

“That’s why it’s important for physical activity guidelines to offer multiple ways to reach goals. Movement looks different for everyone, and nearly all forms of movement are beneficial to our health,” Hamaya added.

Hamaya aims to collect more data on time- and step-based metrics and expand the sample size, which was mostly white women of higher socioeconomic status.

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Hamaya’s team notes that the next iteration of the federal physical activity guidelines is planned for 2028.

“Our findings further establish the importance of adding step-based targets, in order to accommodate flexibility of goals that work for individuals with differing preferences, abilities and lifestyles,” said senior study author I-Min Lee, an epidemiologist in the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone quicker than ever in women’s 200m

Two-time Olympic Champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone blazed to victory in women’s 200m at the 2024 LA Grand Prix on Saturday 18 May .

The U.S. track and field superstar set a new personal best time of 22.07 seconds, a mere five hundredths of a second off the world lead. It was a shocking result for McLaughlin-Levrone, who specialises in the 400m hurdles .

The commanding victory announced her return to form after an injury sidelined her for much of the 2023 season, including the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary .

“I feel good. I love the sprint races; love the shorter races,” she told Olympics.com

The 400m hurdles world record holder noted the strength of the start list for the women’s 200m, which included Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Gabby Thomas and double relay world champion Abby Steiner , when discussing her victory at the 2024 LA Grand Prix .

“Obviously, [there are] things I can always work on, but I think for a PR and second 200m this year; can’t complain,” stated an upbeat McLaughlin-Levrone.

She confirmed that it wasn’t her intention to run the 200m at Paris 2024 , even though her time made her eligible for entry and selection in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials . She chose to view the race as a tune-up for the 400m hurdles instead.

“It's just a good gauge of where you are, and I think that’s what these are; helping me see where I’m at and what I need to improve on,” said McLaughlin-Levrone.

2024 LA Grand Prix - Women’s 200m Full Results - Saturday 18 May

Wind: -0.3 m/s

• Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) 22.07 PB
• Abby Steiner (USA) 22.32
• Brittany Brown (USA) 22.35
• Rhasidat Adeleke (IRL) 22.45
• Jenna Prandini (USA) 22.61
• Gabby Thomas (USA) 22.68
• Kendall Ellis (USA) 22.77
• Edidiong Odiong (BRN) 23.23
• Maryam Toosi (IRI) 23.84

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