University of Kwazulu-Natal

8 New Novel Writing Books Offering Fresh Insights In 2025

Bonisiwe Shabane
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8 new novel writing books offering fresh insights in 2025

New year, new reading list. You already know about our favorite under-the-radar titles from 2024, on top of our favorite books of the year. But what's fresh in 2025? Here are eight titles our editors think you should pick up in the first quarter of the new year. Pico Iyer makes stillness his subject in this stunning look at the lessons he’s learned from his visits to a Benedictine monastery across 30-odd years. Graceful prose and an ability to find meaning in the mundane (and logic in chaos—like the wildfires that are seemingly constantly encroaching on the monastery) makes for a wise, often surprising meditation on how...

—Miriam Grossman, religion and self-help reviews editor The North usually gets let off easy in histories of the civil rights movement, but Adams's richly detailed account of how white opposition to integration culminated in a 1974 Supreme Court decision effectively ending... As today's Supreme Court sledgehammers away at the gains of the civil rights movement, Adams's chronicle provides an essential look at the era when, after a brief period of progressive rulings under Chief Justice... –Marc Greenawalt, science and pop culture reviews editor I'm particularly excited by Maria Zoccola's debut collection, a reimagining of Helen of Troy as a 1990s housewife in Tennessee. By turns hilarious and provocative, it's an affecting character study and modern mythic retelling.

–Maya Popa, poetry reviews editor This stirring reexamination of MLK’s legacy argues that his work has been drastically misremembered and misrepresented by history in order to preserve a simplistic vision of the civil rights movement as concerned only with... Instead, King’s critiques of Northern racism were extensive and long-running, as Theoharis extensively documents. It’s a stunning revisionist account of King’s life and politics. —Dana Snitzky, history and current affairs reviews editor From the most anticipated literary debuts to the return of heavyweights like Stephen King and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, there's plenty to add to your TBR pile this year.

This year will be a great one for discovering new talent, with a slew of compelling debut novels on the horizon. Coming early in the year is Catherine Airey's Confessions, which follows three generations of women between Ireland and New York – including a teenager orphaned by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It's both intimate and ambitious, tackling issues including sexual violence, abortion and the immigrant experience. Airey quit her job in London and moved to West Cork – from where her grandmother hails – to write the book. It's not the only exciting debut to come out of Ireland this year. The golden age of Irish fiction is turning into a gold rush, with many of this year's most intriguing debuts coming from the Emerald Isle.

Garrett Carr's The Boy from the Sea starts when a baby boy is found abandoned on the beach of an Irish coastal town in the 1970s, and taken in by a local fisherman. It's a big story about a small community, told in the communal voice of the town. Meanwhile award-winning Irish poet Seán Hewitt's debut novel Open, Heaven is a story about the agony and ecstasy of first love, set in the rural north of England, and has already attracted glowing praise... Belfast-based Wendy Erskine has already shown herself to have an exceptional gift for finding the profound in the everyday through her two short story collections. Her first novel, The Benefactors (June), follows three women whose lives become intertwined when their 18-year-old sons are accused of sexual assault, and they leverage all of their privilege to protect them. Also making the leap from acclaimed short story writer to novelist is Roisin O'Donnell, whose debut Nesting (January) is about a young mother trying to start over after fleeing an abusive relationship.

Other debuts to watch out for include Louise Hegarty's Fair Play - which turns the murder mystery conceit on its head – and Elaine Garvey's The Wardrobe Department, a coming-of-age tale about a young... Florence Knapp's first novel The Names (May) was the subject of a frenzied bidding war on both sides of the Atlantic. A sliding doors story, it follows three versions of a life, each shaped by the name a mother gives to her son – and explores how a single decision can have monumental ripple effects. The Lamb by Lucy Rose (January) offers something darker – a folk-horror meets coming of age story about a girl who lives in the woods with her cannibal mother. Meanwhile Adam Kay – whose memoir about his days as a junior doctor, This is Going to Hurt, sold more than one million copies and spawned a TV adaptation starring Ben Whishaw – stays... There are books that entertain us, pull at our heartstrings and take us beyond our comfort zones and there are stories that open our eyes and invite contemplation.

This year has already produced so much writing that left an impression on us and some books stood out above the rest. From tender romances and coming-of-age journeys to visceral tales of survival and gripping family sagas, these are the best fiction books of 2025 (so far). Whether you’re a fan of forbidden love, small-town dramas, magical thinking, or you’re looking for something unique to read, you’ll find a book (or two) that will linger in your soul here. Please enable javascript to add items to the cart. With sentences that’ll stick in your head like your favorite lyrics, Deep Cuts is a big-hearted story with an eclectic soundtrack. Spin your favorite record, pour a drink and fall into this story of love, coming-of-age, identity and belonging.

With sentences that’ll stick in your head like your favorite lyrics, Deep Cuts is a big-hearted story with an eclectic soundtrack. Spin your favorite record, pour a drink and fall into this story of love, coming-of-age, identity and belonging. Please enable javascript to add items to the cart.

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New year, new reading list. You already know about our favorite under-the-radar titles from 2024, on top of our favorite books of the year. But what's fresh in 2025? Here are eight titles our editors think you should pick up in the first quarter of the new year. Pico Iyer makes stillness his subject in this stunning look at the lessons he’s learned from his visits to a Benedictine monastery across...

—Miriam Grossman, Religion And Self-help Reviews Editor The North Usually

—Miriam Grossman, religion and self-help reviews editor The North usually gets let off easy in histories of the civil rights movement, but Adams's richly detailed account of how white opposition to integration culminated in a 1974 Supreme Court decision effectively ending... As today's Supreme Court sledgehammers away at the gains of the civil rights movement, Adams's chronicle provides an essenti...

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–Maya Popa, poetry reviews editor This stirring reexamination of MLK’s legacy argues that his work has been drastically misremembered and misrepresented by history in order to preserve a simplistic vision of the civil rights movement as concerned only with... Instead, King’s critiques of Northern racism were extensive and long-running, as Theoharis extensively documents. It’s a stunning revisionis...

This Year Will Be A Great One For Discovering New

This year will be a great one for discovering new talent, with a slew of compelling debut novels on the horizon. Coming early in the year is Catherine Airey's Confessions, which follows three generations of women between Ireland and New York – including a teenager orphaned by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It's both intimate and ambitious, tackling issues including sexual violence, abortion and the i...

Garrett Carr's The Boy From The Sea Starts When A

Garrett Carr's The Boy from the Sea starts when a baby boy is found abandoned on the beach of an Irish coastal town in the 1970s, and taken in by a local fisherman. It's a big story about a small community, told in the communal voice of the town. Meanwhile award-winning Irish poet Seán Hewitt's debut novel Open, Heaven is a story about the agony and ecstasy of first love, set in the rural north of...