Our annual pick of the most exciting debut fiction has previously tipped Sally Rooney and Louise Kennedy, Tom Crewe and Douglas Stuart. Here the class of 2024 tell us their storiesEach year since 2014, the Observer New Review’s writers and editors have read scores of forthcoming debut novels from authors based in the UK and Ireland in order to spotlight the best; here’s our pick of 2024. As ever, our only guide was the quality of the books in front of us. This year’s list includes industry-tipped titles snapped up by big-spending publishers, but also a canny acquisition from a small independent press. There’s a third book from someone already widely celebrated as a writer of short stories, and even a debut from an actual Observer journalist. These are simply the books we rated most – and we think you’ll love them too.In previous years, we led you to Douglas Stuart’s Booker-winning Shuggie Bain, Gail Honeyman’s global bestseller Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Sheena Patel’s cult indie hit I’m a Fan. Last year’s picks continue to hoover up honours. Tom Crewe’s The New Life won the Orwell prize for fiction, while Michael Magee (Close to Home) won the Rooney prize, awarded to an outstanding Irish writer under 40. Both writers are on the shortlist for this month’s Nero debut fiction prize, along with Stephen Buoro, another of our 2023 picks.I’d take the washing up shifts no one else wanted so I could be at the back, jotting things downThere’s violence, but it’s about... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-01-14 07:00:20 UTC ]
Lee Child’s The Midnight Line (Bantam) has ended Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’s run in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 35,942 copies for £146,019. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s not often a single title tops both the print and ebook charts in the same week, let alone pulls off that feat multiple times, but Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine's in the number one ebook chart slot has now reached seven consecutive weeks. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Harper) has once again held the UK Official Top 50 number one, with 24,729 copies through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Harper) has boomeranged back into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, claiming a fourth non-consecutive week at the top and displacing Tom Fletcher and Shane Devries’ World Book Day title Brain Freeze (Puffin). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With soaring sales, viral hits like Cat Person and a cameo by Tom Hanks, the form seems to be staging a comeback. But did it ever go away?In 2017, almost 50% more short story collections were sold than in the previous year. It was the best year for short stories since 2010. Booksellers are... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Six debut authors, including bookseller Fiona Mozley, Gail Honeyman and Imogen Hermes Gowar, have been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2018. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Here’s an interesting statistic: this Weekly E-Book Ranking is the first since launching in May 2016—that’s 95 weeks—in which no new title featured. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Harper) held onto the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for the third week on the trot, squeaking by Tom Kerridge's Lose Weight for Good (Absolute Press) and fending off a raft of World Book Day releases. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman has scored a double: in the same week that Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine ascended to the print number one spot, the ebook edition of the title ousted Jojo Moyes’ Still Me from the Weekly E-Book Ranking top spot. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (HarperCollins) has breezed into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a second week, selling 27,844 copies for £166,643. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (HarperCollins) has soared into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 29,442 copies for £170,329. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A week ahead of its paperback release, Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine leapt into the Weekly E-Book Ranking number one, trumping Fire and Fury and seeing off the (Michael) Wolff from the door. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hutchinson has revealed it is publishing a posthumous collection of "powerful" short stories by Helen Dunmore, a day after the late author was given the Costa Award for Poetry. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dunmore wins poetry category, while Jon McGregor takes best novel prize for Reservoir 13 and Gail Honeyman’s bestselling debut Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine lands first novel awardThe poet Helen Dunmore is in the running to become the second posthumous winner of the Costa book of the year... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Children’s will publish what is believed to be the first ever all-female authored Doctor Who collection of short stories, with input from writers Jenny Colgan, Dorothy Koomson, Scottish comedian Susan Calman and Doctor Who author Jacqueline Rayner. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Raymond Chandler, the crime novelist, in 1946. One of his short stories, “It’s All Right — He Only Died,” was recently discovered and published by Strand Magazine, a literary quarterly. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2017-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Every era has its own fairy tales—fables that teach children what a princess looks like, and what monsters they should fear. According to the short stories in Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado’s exhilarating debut collection, a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction, our... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2017-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orion has acquired "a hilarious and heartwarming" début by Caroline Hulse at auction and a collection of short stories from Man Booker shortlistee Emily Fridlund. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Walker Books will publish a new collection of short stories from American YA author Cassandra Clare featuring characters from the bestselling Shadowhunter world. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dressed as a 6ft 4in blue insect, Peter Serafinowicz’s superhero is a throwback to the Golden Age of Comic Books – but with everything just a fraction offWhat is it? A superhero series, because Lord knows, we need another one of those at the moment.Why you’ll love it: As superhero series go,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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