April is another blockbuster month for new fiction releases! Fan favorites Amor Towles, Leigh Bardugo, Julia Alvarez, and Emily Henry are back with new releases, alongside very enticing work from potentially lesser known authors.
4/2: The Audacity by Ryan Chapman
Victoria Stevens, wunderkind behind a Theranos-like startup, has slipped off the grid just in time to avoid an exposé that will take down her company; she’s seemingly left her husband, Guy Sarvananthan, behind to take the fall. Naturally, Guy takes the company plan to a Caribbean retreat for billionaires. (satire/general fiction)
4/2: The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez
When writer Alma Cruz inherits land in the Dominican Republic, she decides to use the area as a graveyard for all of her untold stories. But the stories, and their characters, aren’t ready to rest, instead talking to the groundskeeper Filomena, and to Alma until she can see their true shape. (general fiction)
4/2: Clear by Carys Davies
In 1840s Scotland, minister John accepts the task of clearing out the last remaining resident of a remote island, Ivar. When John is badly injured upon arrival, Ivar nurses him back to health, even as John’s secret hangs between them. (historical fiction)
4/2: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
Lauren is single, until the evening she returns to her London apartment and a husband, Michael is there. Suddenly, there are photos of them together on her phone. Then Michael goes to the attic, and out comes a different husband; and then another; and then another, Lauren’s life adjusting slightly each time her attic creates a new husband. How do you navigate infinite choice?
4/2: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
On the shores of Lake Superior in a near future dystopia, Lark (a bookseller) and Rainy (a musician) eke out a living until a fugitive and his pursuers upend their lives. Rainy escapes on his sailboat into the vast lake, hoping to reconnect with Lark. (general fiction)
4/2: Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Emma and Justin are both cursed: every person they date immediately finds their soul mate after their breakup. If they date, will their curses cancel one another out, and let them finally be the ones who find love? (romance)
4/2: The Murder of Mr. Ma by SJ Rozan and John Shen Yen Nee
In 1920s London, Judge Dee Ren Jie and academic Lao She team up to track a killer who preys on Chinese immigrants. (historical mystery)
4/2: A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Donald Weterbeke
In 1885 Paris, nine-year-old Aubry Tourvel finds a wooden puzzle ball; days later, she begins to bleed to death. The only thing that stops the bleeding is walking, and so her life of movement begins, travelling the world both in search of a cure, but also in appreciation the place she sees and the people she meets. (historical fantasy)
4/2: The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza
In the wake of the failures of both her marriage and her business, Sara Marsala travels to Italy after her Aunt Rosie’s death to claim an inheritance, which is not just a plot of land, but also buried family secrets that may change everything. (general fiction)
4/2: The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara Donati
In 1857, midwife Carrie Ballentyne flees New York and the demons of her past for a nursing job in the frontier of Sante Fe and the New Mexico Territory. (historical fiction)
4/2: Table for Two by Amor Towles
The author of Gentleman in Moscow is back with a collection of stories set in New York City, and a novella featuring Evelyn Ross from his novel Rules of Civility. (general fiction)
4/2: Village Weavers by Myriam JA Chancy
Two young girls become friends in 1940s Haiti, only to be torn apart by familial and national politics. 60 years later, a phone call reunites them in the United States and brings back both the past and the hope of reconciliation. (general fiction)
4/9: The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
In 16th century Spain, maid Luzia can work small magic spells. Her master enters her in a royal competition, where she works with a mentor – her master’s immortal familiar, Guillén Santángel, to win. Working in the shadow of the Inquisition, both Luzia and Santángel have a lot to lose, and even more to gain. (historical fantasy)
4/9: Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes
Psychologist Ophelia Bray studies ERS, a syndrome that can cause people to go on murderous rampages. Ophelia is embedded in an exploration team settling on an eerie, abandoned planet, but when the crew’s pilot is murdered, Ophelia and the crew must work together to figure out if it’s ERS, or something else. (science fiction horror)
4/16: The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes
Four Irish sisters make it through hard childhoods, grow up to each get PhDs, and search for meaningful work and care in a precarious world. When the eldest disappears, walking away from her professorship at the University of Galway, the other sisters unite to find her. (general fiction)
4/16: Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina
Noemi is looking forward to leaving the reservation she grew up on, until her boyfriend seemingly dies by suicide. At the same time, her beloved Uncle Louie returns after a decade away, and the two start looking into some strange recent deaths, and something sinister in the shadows. (horror)
4/16: A Kind of Madness by Uche Okonkwo
Ten stories set in Nigeria explore everyday life, from tension in all kinds of relationships, to community and familial expectations, and the effort to just survive. (general fiction)
4/16: One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole
Kenetria Nash has dissociative identity disorder, and she’s been away for six years, letting other parts of her persona navigate through her life. Now she’s back, and evidently they’ve committed to being the caretaker of an estate on an isolated island in the Hudson River, where she’s about to come face-to-face with her hidden history. (thriller)
4/16: The Spoiled Heart by Sunjeev Sahota
In the years after tragedy and hardship defined his life, Nayan Olak found purpose in his union. Now running for the leadership of the union, an unexpectedly formidable opponent and the return of an old acquaintance throws everything into question. (general fiction)
4/23: Funny Story by Emily Henry
Daphne’s magical love story comes to a halt when her fiancé leaves her for Petra, his childhood best friend. Reeling, children’s librarian Daphne finds a roommate in the only person who can truly understand – Miles, Petra’s ex. The two form a friendship, and a plan… (romance)
4/23: Lucky by Jane Smiley
Folk musician Jodie “Lucky” Rattler comes of age in 1960s St. Louis, with a modest but steadily successful music career that takes her around the world and, eventually, back home. (general fiction)
4/24: Ocean’s Godori by Elaine O. Cho
A trio of outcasts work on the Ohneul, the only space ship that will take them, as they try to solve a murder, work with space raiders, and ultimately find their own paths. (science fiction)
4/30: 888 Love and the Divine Burden of Numbers by Abraham Chang
As a child, Young Wang’s uncle told him that everyone has seven great loves in their life. As Young becomes a great cataloger of his own life, he of course tracks his loves. At college in 1995, he falls for Erena – but she’s only the sixth love in his life. Is she really his lasting love, or was his uncle right and there will be a seventh?
4/30: Real Americans by Rachel Khong
A family interrogates identity and the malleable nature of the future across three generations, beginning with Lily Chen and her unlikely love with Matthew, heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, in New York City; to Lily’s son Nick, who leaves his home in remote British Columbia to seek out his unknown father; and to May, in the years before Lily’s birth, navigating China during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. (general fiction)
Finally, don’t forget to check out April’s Peak Picks selections!
~ posted by Andrea G.
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