Ones to watch! Hottest new books for 2024
Hungry? Cause this year is a right fiction feast. From shattering debuts and sizzling romcoms to haunting gothic mysteries, here’s the most anticipated novels coming soon to a local bookstore near you.
The Women, Kristin Hannah
She’s the mastermind behind the Netflix sensation Firefly Lane which had us all sobbing into our Aperol Spritz last summer. Now, Kristin Hannah is back with another surefire hit, The Women – a story of devastating loss and love set in the 1960s era of the Vietnam War. It’s an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time, who impulsively follows her brother out to Vietnam and joins the Army Nurses Corps. An all-encompassing and richly drawn story, and a heroine who’ll stay with you long after the final chapter closes. Just get the tissues ready.
OUT 15 FEB
The House of Hidden Meanings, Ru Paul
A certified Queen of the drag and non-drag variety. Ru Paul is releasing his hotly anticipated and most intimate ‘tell all’ memoir to date, detailing his brutally honest account of growing up Black, poor, and queer in a broken home, to discovering the power of performance, found family, and self-acceptance. Iconic doesn’t cover it.
OUT 5 MARCH
Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge, Lizzie Pook
Can I just say the artwork alone is enough to justify why this book should be the next addition to your home library. Desperately exciting, pacey, and compelling, Maude Horton wants revenge, and she wants it now. Set in macabre world of Victorian London our intrepid heroine is ready to risk it all for her missing sister who wasn’t quite what she seemed. But not everyone is so keen for Maude to discover the truth. However, if she doesn’t, nobody will. Watch this space!
OUT 1 FEB
The Ladder, Cathy Newman
You may recognise her as one of the main presenters on Channel 4 News, and now she’s releasing her own slab of feel good non-fiction inspired by her own show on Times Radio. The Ladder brings together discussions between women about work, love, growth, challenge, the big decisions and the stories of their lives. Needing some pick-me-up inspo from influential women like Nicola Sturgeon, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, and Waad Al-Kateab? You’ll find it in these pages.
OUT 29 FEB
Piglet, Lottie Hazell
A surefire go to book clubs around the country will be scrambling to get their hands on. Her life is so full, so why is she hungry? For Piglet – an unshakable childhood nickname – getting married is her opportunity to reinvent. Together, Kit and Piglet are the picture of domestic bliss – effortless hosts, planning a covetable wedding … But if a life looks too good to be true, it probably is. It’s unforgettable, it’s a debut, and it’s going to take 2024 by storm.
OUT 25 JAN
Funny Story, Emily Henry
If you’ve ever even remotely dipped your toe into the world of BookTok (a niche community of bookworms dominating TikTok), you would have heard of Emily Henry. Her previous hits include Happy Place, Beach Read, and Book Lovers. So say hello to Funny Story. It’s a joyful romcom where opposites attract and a must-have in your bag when you hit the beach this summer.
OUT 25 APRIL
Maurice and Maralyn: A Whale, a Shipwreck, a Love Story, Sophie Elmhirst
It’s a tale that’s so mind-bogglingly crazy, you won’t believe it when you learn it’s actually a true one. It begins as an eccentric English love story with Maurice and Maralyn at the helm. But when they decide to sell up their house, build a boat and set sail for New Zealand, halfway there their boat is struck by a whale and sinks. Now the pair are cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a tiny raft, and over the course of months, their love is put to the ultimate test. This is a book about human connection and how we survive – not just at sea, but in life.
OUT 29 FEB
Blue Sisters, Coco Mellors
If you didn’t hear the insane amount of noise around Coco’s debut novel, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, quite frankly, where have you been? It was a smash Sunday Times bestseller, and now she’s back this year with her next novel Blue Sisters. It tells the story of three exceptional – and exceptionally different – sisters as they return to their family home in New York from their respective lives in the wake of the death of their beloved fourth sister. As they are reunited, they must navigate addiction, grief and ambition, and learn what it takes to fall in love with life again.
OUT 25 APRIL
Meet Me at the Surface, Jodie Matthews
Nothing like a gothic mystery to send a chill down your spine. Meet Me at the Surface is going to be a whopper – a haunting ode to Cornish folklore and the secrets of the places we call home. Merryn is the protagonist, but when she returns from Manchester University to the wilds of Bodmin Moor where she was raised for the funeral of her ex-girlfriend, she finds her childhood home stranger and more secretive than ever. She’s sure her mother is hiding something. The villagers are hunting on the moors at night, but for what?
OUT 15 FEB
The Happiest Ever After, Milly Johnson
The Queen of comfort reading. If there’s anyone that can make me feel like everything’s going to be okay, it’s Milly Johnson. Her novels are like one warm hug and her latest offering is likely to be no different. Polly Potter seems to be taken for granted by everyone in her life – her boss and her cheating partner to name two. She finds solace in writing her book with main character Sabrina for company. But when an accident causes her to forget everything about her life, the only thing she’s certain of is that her name is Sabrina. But can she really forget the past and start over again? Only time will tell.
OUT 15 FEB
The King’s Witches, Kate Foster
I was a HUGE fan of her debut novel, The Maiden, and now Kate Foster is back with her highly anticipated second book, The King’s Witches. It’s historical fiction that takes us way back when to the 16th century when rumour of witchcraft began to sweep Britain. Following the lives of three very different women, we see how each become intertwined in each other’s story as accusations of witchcraft fly and have the capacity to change their lives forever. Unforgettable, gripping, and beautiful in equal measure.
OUT 6 JUNE
Whale Fall, Elizabeth O’Connor
It’s not up for debate, this might just be the most exciting debut of the year. Taking inspiration from her grandmother who came from a family of quarry workers and fisherman in an isolated North Welsh village, Elizabeth O’Connor’s novel follows a similar young woman, cooped up on a remote island and dreaming of something more for her life. But one day, with the threat of The Great War looming, two strangers arrive, and her life changes forever. Expect poetically beautiful writing, folk stories, songs, and tales that help bring this story to life.
OUT 25 APRIL
The Great Divide, Cristina Henriquez
A novel that takes your breath away while also teaching you something you never knew about before – but probably should have. The Great Divide is a breathtaking historical masterpiece following the incredible construction of the Panama Canal, which simultaneously casts light on the unsung people who lived and laboured in its shadow. Cristina Henríquez pulls a blinder with this one.
OUT 14 MARCH
Support local! Find your nearest indie bookstore below:
- The Edge of the World Bookshop (Penzance)
- Falmouth Bookseller (Falmouth)
- The Book Shop (Liskeard)
- Wadebridge Bookshop (Wadebridge)
- Padstow Bookseller (Padstow)
- Shrew Books, Fowey
- Hurley Books (Mevagissey)
- Beerwolf Books (Falmouth)
- Stir (Wadebridge)
- Clemo Books (Newquay)