New Literary Fiction Releases

Saba Sams' "Gunk" expands on themes from her award-winning 2022 short story collection, "Send Nudes," which also explored the complexities of girlhood. Her debut novel centers on Jules, a woman who works at a nightclub with her ex-husband, and their relationship with a 19-year-old employee, Nim, who becomes pregnant. Sams, who was named one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists in 2023, drew inspiration from her interest in non-traditional families and her own experience with young motherhood. "Weavingshaw" marks the debut of Heba Al-Wasity, a doctor whose life experience as an Iraqi refugee in Libya and later Canada has influenced her writing. This gothic fantasy follows Leena, a young woman who can see the dead and strikes a dangerous bargain with a mysterious merchant known as the Saint of Silence to save her brother's life. The novel is the first in a planned trilogy and secured a significant seven-figure, three-book deal with Del Rey in North America after a heated 10-way auction for the rights. A. Natasha Joukovsky's "Medium Rare" is a satirical novel that reimagines the myth of Icarus in the world of college basketball and Washington D.C. politics. The story follows a mid-level lobbyist named Phil who achieves sudden fame after predicting a perfect NCAA March Madness bracket for a billion-dollar prize. The narrative is told from the perspective of Cassandra, a college acquaintance who foresees the disastrous consequences of Phil's newfound success. This is Joukovsky's second novel, following her 2021 debut, "The Portrait of a Mirror," which was a modern reinterpretation of the myth of Narcissus.