The Economist: Eight of the best new novels to read now

Nancy Mitford's character swore off reading after "White Fang", but The Economist says no single book should end your reading life. Its latest roundup picks eight standout new novels: Dave Eggers on an artist's lifelong ambitions, Colson Whitehead's Harlem trilogy finale, Marlon James on trauma in 1980s Kingston, Emily St John Mandel's parallel worlds, Sebastian Barry's freed slave turned soldier, Hernan Diaz's post-apocalyptic electricity thief, Louise Kennedy on first love and Emma Cline's moving journey towards a Zurich euthanasia clinic..From The Economist, published under licence. The original article can be found on www.economist.com© 2025 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved.The Economist.“I have only ever read one book in my life, and that is ‘White Fang’. It’s so frightfully good I’ve never bothered to read another.” So says a character in Nancy Mitford’s novel “The Pursuit of Love”. Jack London’s “White Fang”, about a Canadian wolfdog, may be frightfully good, but no book is so satisfying that it should make you give up on reading. Here are eight excellent new titles. Read one, then pick up another.Contrapposto. By Dave Eggers. Knopf; 432 pages; $32. Canongate Books; £20In this engrossing novel, Cricket Dibb grows up and pursues his ambition to become an artist. Along the way, he falls in love with the flighty and worldly Olympia, who becomes a forceful presence throughout his life. Rich characterisation and deft storytelling underpin this tale about chasing dreams, creating art and remaining true to your beliefs.Cool Machine. By Colson Whitehead. Doubleday; 368 pages; $30. Fleet; £22The final volume of the acclaimed Harlem trilogy continues the misadventures of Ray Carney, a furniture salesman and part-time fence, in the 1980s. The captivating anti-hero fraternises with top gangsters, low-level hustlers and Pepper, his ageing best friend, while grappling with personal trials and social turmoil. This terrific crime novel is also a love letter to New York.The Disappearers. By Marlon James. Riverhead Books; 640 pages; $32. Hamish Hamilton; £20One night in Kingston in 1988, during a rehearsal for a play, eight gay men are brutally assaulted by a mob. A member of the cast is killed. Later, two of the survivors go in search of the “disappearers” who vanished after the attack. Spanning decades and encompassing a range of voices and narrative forms, this bold, electrifying book chronicles trauma, homophobia and marginalised lives.Exit Party. By Emily St John Mandel. Knopf; 320 pages; $32. Picador; £18.99At a house party in Los Angeles in 2031, one guest tries to make sense of bizarre doubles and disappearances. So begins a mind-bending piece of speculative fiction. Besides telling a thrilling and inventive story about parallel worlds and dual timelines, this surefooted novel explores threats to survival and the insidious spread of surveillance.The Newer World. By Sebastian Barry. Viking; 272 pages; $28. Faber; £20Tennyson Bouguereau, a former slave, tells his remarkable life story in this beautifully wrought novel. Born into bondage with his twin sister (“We were nothing people”), he adjusts to freedom after the civil war. But when he later joins the army and is tasked with hunting down Native Americans, he is propelled into a world of carnage.Ply. By Hernan Diaz. Riverhead Books; 464 pages; $32. Picador; £20Set in a post-apocalyptic American city, this novel’s unnamed protagonist is a “pincher” who steals electricity to use as currency. Her talent arouses the interest of a mysterious inventor who approaches her to help with an experiment that has the potential to “alter the fabric of reality” and create a brave new society. A stimulating novel full of big ideas but also human struggles amid chaos and uncertainty.Stations. By Louise Kennedy. Bloomsbury Circus; 304 pages; £20. To be published in America by Riverhead Books in November; 288 pages; $28Two disillusioned teenagers meet in Ireland in 1982 and form an intimate bond. Red is eventually forced to flee the country for London. A few years later, Róisín attempts to make a new life for herself in the city. She looks to her old friend for support, only to find him veering out of control. An astute, emotionally charged novel that examines the lasting effects of first love.Switzy. By Emma Cline. Random House; 352 pages; $32. Chatto & Windus; £18.99David, a retired businessman, is making a one-way trip. His memories are fading and everyday life is becoming increasingly difficult. Aware that he is “both here and not here”, he has settled on a final destination: a euthanasia clinic in Zurich. Unfolding in fragmentary prose, this novel is disorientating, thought-provoking and, as David approaches his journey’s end, deeply moving.

The Economist: Eight of the best new novels to read now

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