Best Debut Fiction of 2022Like this list

72 items

• The Stardust Thief

  Abdullah, Chelsea

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  A hunter and seller of illegal magic, Loulie al-Nazari, after saving the life of a cowardly prince, is blackmailed into finding an ancient lamp, drawing her into a world where nothing is what it seems and where she must decide who she will become in…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Ghetto Within

  a Novel

  Amigorena, Santiago H.

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  In 1940s Buenos Aires, three fellow Polish exiles grapple with identity and allegiance for the rest of their lives, including Vicente Rosenberg, who is riddled with guilt about leaving his family behind, in this unique mix of fiction, biography and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Mother of Strangers

  Amiry, Suad

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  Based on a true story, this novel follows the lives of a gifted 15-year-old mechanic and the 13-year-old peasant girl he hopes to marry against the backdrop of the indiscriminate bombing of Jaffa and the displacements of Palestinian families, in…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Houseboat

  a Novel

  Bahr, Dane

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  A stylish and atmospheric noir set in small town Iowa in the 1960s, a midcentury heartland gothic with abounding twists and a feverish conclusion.

• Legends & Lattes

  a Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes

  Baldree, Travis, 1977-

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  The much-beloved BookTok sensation from Travis Baldree, Legends & Lattes is a novel of high fantasy and low stakes.

• Deep Water

  Bamford, Emma

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  Responding to a rescue call in the Indian Ocean, a Captain discovers a mortally injured man and his traumatized wife who describes how their exotic trip to a tiny, remote island forced her to become a murderer.

• Twice in a Lifetime

  a Novel

  Baron, Melissa

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  The Time Traveler's Wife meets Oona Out of Order in this imaginative and moving debut novel of a love more powerful than time.

• Stories No One Hopes Are About Them

  Bermudez, A. J., 1987-

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  At once playfully dark and slyly hopeful, these stories explore convergences of power, privilege, and place.

• Her Perfect Twin

  Bonner, Sarah

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  When Megan discovers photographs of her estranged identical twin sister on her husband's phone, she wants answers. Leah already has everything Megan has ever wanted. Fame, fortune, freedom to do what she wants. And when Megan confronts Leah, an…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Lemon

  a Novel

  Boyd, S. E.

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  When the universally adored host of a culinary travel show is found dead in a Belfast hotel room in an apparent suicide, a group of friends, fixers, hustlers and opportunists vie to seize control of the narrative, in this darkly hilarious and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Small Game

  a Novel

  Braverman, Blair

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  Cast in a new show called Civilization, survivalist Mara and her four teammates, after something goes horribly wrong, stranding them In the northern wilds, face terrifying decisions as "survival" becomes more than a game.

• Cat Brushing

  and Other Stories

  Campbell, Jane, 1942-

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  A collection of stories that follows a group of older women fighting to live the rest of their lives on their own terms, whether its having an intense nursing home or accidentally attending the funeral of a former boyfriend.

• A Proposal They Can't Refuse

  Caña, Natalie

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  Natalie Caña turns up the heat, humor and heart in this debut rom-com about a Puerto Rican chef and an Irish American whiskey distiller forced into a fake engagement by their scheming octogenarian grandfathers.

• The Hacienda

  Cañas, Isabel

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  In the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence and the execution of her father, Beatriz accepts Don Rodolfo Solorzano's proposal of marriage and is whisked away to his remote country estate where she is faced with a malevolent presence linked…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Singer Distance

  Chatagnier, Ethan

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  In December 1960, Rick Hayworth drives his genius girlfriend, and three other MIT grad students across the country to paint a message in the desert. Mars has been silent for thirty years, since the last time Earth solved one of the mathematical…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Disorientation

  Chou, Elaine Hsieh

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  A struggling PhD student makes a shocking discovery about a famous Chinese American poet that sets into motion a series of escalating events, both humorous and fraught, that culminates in an incendiary reckoning of her relationships, beliefs, and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Love at First Spite

  a Novel

  Collins, Anna E.

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  Interior designer Dani Porter buys a vacant lot next to her ex-fiancé's house to cause him misery after he cheats on her with their realtor.

• Euphoria

  Cullhed, Elin, 1983-

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  A woman's life, erupting with brilliance and promise, is fissured by betrayal and the pressures of duty. What had once seemed a pastoral family idyll has become a trap, and she struggles between being the wife and mother she is bound to be and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Small Deaths

  a Novel

  Das, Rijula

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  A staggering debut novel of murder, loyalty, love, and survival at all costs, set in the teeming underbelly of Calcutta’s most infamous neighborhood.

• The Book Eaters

  Dean, Sunyi

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  Part of The Family, a secret line of people for whom books are food, Devon, raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories, discovers that real life doesn't always come with happy endings when her son is born with an…Read moreRead more of this annotation