Archives de catégorie : London 2026 Fiction

EXIT d’Ezzedine C. Fishere

This highly original novel tells an alternative history in which the Arab Spring leads Egypt and the Middle East to the brink of nuclear war.

EXIT
by Ezzedine C. Fishere
Translated by Jonathan Smolin
American University in Cairo Press, November 2026

In what might be his last night on Earth, the Egyptian president’s translator Ali pens a letter to his estranged son, telling him of everything that has led him, and his country, to breaking point.

Ali is traveling aboard a cargo ship on a dangerous mission to accompany twenty-four nuclear warheads from North Korea to Egypt, where they will be launched at the Israeli occupation of Sinai. But he has blown the whistle on the operation and now must face the consequences: will he be celebrated as a hero or condemned as a traitor?

Fishere’s powerful storytelling offers an alternative history to events post-revolution in Egypt, hinging on the rupture of the Arab Spring. EXIT creates a compelling, and terrifying, vision of the Middle East, one that both teaches us about the present and warns of coming catastrophe.

“[A] wonderful ‘prophetic’ novel”—Jamal Khashoggi

Ezzedine C. Fishere is an Egyptian novelist, diplomat and academic. A distinguished fellow at Dartmouth College, his extensive diplomatic experience includes the Egyptian Foreign Service and the United Nations missions in the Middle East and East Africa. He has published ten novels in Arabic, two of which have been translated into English: Embrace on Brooklyn Bridge which was nominated for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (often referred to as “the Arabic Booker”) and The Egyptian Assassin which was adapted by Pan-Arab TV into a limited television series entitled, “Abou Omar El-Masry.” He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire.

TANZENDE FRAU, BLAUER HAHN de Dana Grigorcea

In a Romanian mountain town still marked by the past dictatorship, two young people from completely different worlds experience the miracle of love.

TANZENDE FRAU, BLAUER HAHN
(Dancing Woman, Blue Rooster)
by Dana Grigorcea
Penguin Verlag/PRH Germany, March 2026

In 1990s Romania, the dust of socialism still hasn’t quite yet settled. Every summer Roxana and Camil meet in the small town of Busteni in the Carpathian Mountains: she is there on holiday, while he lives on the other side of the tracks. They observe the town’s couples, take inspiration from them and try to discover their secrets: from the successful lawyer who removes her roof when a tree starts growing through her house, to the chalk-and-cheese engineering couple who suffer from the same ailment, to the local beauty who looks like a TV star, who has found love with an unremarkable-seeming man. And with each successive summer, Roxana and Camil’s own story develops too – until they realise that they can only ever be a guest in each other’s lives.

Light as a feather yet profound, TANZENDE FRAU, BLAUER HAHN is a kaleidoscope of love and what it takes for it to take root. A novel about desires unexpectedly fulfilled, opportunities that pass by unnoticed – and how the wheel of life carries on turning regardless.

Dana Grigorcea was born in Bucharest in 1979, she is a Germanist and Dutchist and has lived with her family in Zurich for many years. The Romanian-Swiss author’s works have been translated into several languages and have received numerous awards such as the Ingeborg Bachmann/3sat Award. Her novel « Those Who Never Die » won the 2022 Swiss Book Prize and was longlisted for the 2021 German Book Prize. Dana Grigorcea is a recipient of the Romanian Order of Cultural Merit with the rank of Knight.

THIS IS AN ACTUAL TRAGEDY de Natalie Rose Richardson

A mesmerizing debut that combines the transformative friendships of Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, the suspense of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, and the varying vocal registers of Tess Gunty’s The Rabbit Hutch.

THIS IS AN ACTUAL TRAGEDY
by Natalie Rose Richardson
Knopf, May 2027
(via Writers House)

Two weeks before freshman orientation, four soon-to-be (unlikely) friends arrive at the University of Chicago as part of its token Scholars of Color (SOC) program: there’s Darwin, an insecure physics geek on a quest to lose his virginity; Nat, an elusive aspiring writer who starts secretly dating her much older mentor; Jordan, the would-be campus all-star who’s too stuck in his head to fulfill his potential, and Stephanie, the undisputed hottest girl on campus, who’s carrying a shocking secret.

Four years later, they combine their strengths to stage a protest as part of Scav – a notorious campus secret society that organizes a yearly competition, one that often spawns dark, borderline illegal situations that the school pays good money to cover up. This year’s prompt: to dramatically reenact “an actual tragedy.” Fifty-five students from SOC don shabby costumes and pitch tents in a Chicago park that, only days prior, was purged of real asylum seekers. But when the cops arrive at the scene, performance becomes reality when tragedy strikes.

Told in four parts, the novel dives into the life of each irresistibly compelling protagonist during one year of college. Their relationships to each other and themselves are tested as they each weather their own individual tragedies. It’s these friends’ complicated ties and devotion to each other that lead them to organize the asylum seeker reenactment—the consequences of which will mark the survivors forever.

With an irreverent, razor-sharp voice that dips into the serious, THIS IS AN ACTUAL TRAGEDY probes loneliness and belonging, race, class, sex, friendship, and the absurdities of American higher education, and marks the arrival of a brilliant young talent.

Natalie Rose Richardson is a writer from Oak Park, Illinois with degrees from the University of Chicago (BA), Northwestern University (MA & MFA in Poetry), and the NYU Creative Writing Program (MFA in Fiction). The manuscript was closely advised by Jonathan Safran Foer, who writes: “Natalie Rose Richardson arrives with a vibrant, irreverent, singular voice. THIS IS AN ACTUAL TRAGEDY is an actual joy.” Her work has appeared in Narrative, Orion Magazine, Poetry Magazine, and more.

THE DIVINE GARDENER’S HANDBOOK d’Eli Snow

Perfect for fans of Tamsyn Muir and Rebecca Thorne, this joyful debut follows a gardener fighting to secure her dream job in the Divine Gardens―manipulating God, antagonizing her attractive rival, and running afoul of a brewing rebellion along the way.

THE DIVINE GARDENER’S HANDBOOK
by Eli Snow
Saturday Books/St. Martin’s, August 2026

Cyprin grows perfect apples.

No other worker tends the orchards like she can. Sick of living in a Jenga-esque megacity where she’s never alone (there’s always a rat), Cyprin dreams of a job in the Divine Gardens, tending to the plants overseen by God.

Her only way in is winning an annual flower pageant―one that’s been dominated by the Divine Gardens’ head gardener for five years running: an insufferable woman with an undeniable affinity for plants. When Cyprin plays dirty (criminally dirty) and wins, she jumps headfirst into life in the gardens and her rivalry with the head gardener, who she just can’t stop thinking about.

Pranks, backstabbing, and a lot of heated glaring unite them, until they’re both drawn into a plot to take down God―who’s really just some guy with a great garden. As they spiral through layers of the city’s history and underground rebel group, Cyprin and her rival will find they understand each other like no one else does, even if there can only be one head gardener in the end.

But rise or fall, at least Cyprin will always have the rats.

A chaotically queer exploration of love, ambition, and toxic work culture, THE DIVINE GARDENER’S HANDBOOK is a romp of a science fantasy that will leave you gasping for more.

Eli Snow (they/them) is a speculative fiction writer, editor, and former medical geneticist, based in rural Australia with their two cats. Their work tends to center queer and neurodivergent characters, as these are the perspectives they experience the world from. When not reading or writing, they should be checked for signs of life. Eli also writes YA Fantasy under the name Elias Cold. Their YA debut, The Duke Steals Hearts, is available now from Page Street Kids.

VICTIM OR VILLAIN de L.T. Ryan & C.R. Gray

From the authors of the Maddie Castle series: She came to hide from her past. Now she must fight to protect her future.

VICTIM OR VILLAIN: A Gwen Kane Thriller
by L.T. Ryan & C.R. Gray
Podium Publishing, April 2026

Having escaped her abusive husband, Gwen Kane found safety at Rhiannon’s Ranch, a secret refuge for survivors of domestic violence. Now she works at a local bakery and lives a quiet life among friends who share her scars. She’s almost convinced herself the worst is over.

But when her best friend’s abuser storms into their sanctuary, Gwen erupts in a flash of panic and rage―with deadly consequences. To protect the ranch, she must cover up the evidence of what she’s done. But burying one body doesn’t erase the past. And what’s more, somebody witnessed everything . . .

As Gwen’s fragile peace unravels, she’s drawn into a romance with the one man who could either save or destroy her. With vengeance and justice blurred beyond recognition, she must decide whether she’s still the woman that runs―or the one who fights back.

Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train and Big Little Lies, VICTIM OR VILLAIN is an emotionally charged psychological thriller featuring a heroine readers won’t soon forget.

L.T. Ryan is the Wall Street Journal–, USA Today–, and Amazon-bestselling author of the Jack Noble, Rachel Hatch, and Gwen Kane series, among other mysteries and thrillers. More than eight million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. When not penning his next adventure, Ryan enjoys traveling, hiking, riding his Peloton, and spending time with his wife, daughter, and four dogs at home in Charlottesville, Virginia.

C.R. Gray is the author of gritty, emotionally charged mystery thrillers designed to linger in the minds of readers long after the final page. She also writes fantasy romance under the pen name Charlie Nottingham. When not writing, Gray enjoys hiking the Appalachian Mountains with her dog, tackling DIY projects, and reading late into the night.