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 ]
While Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine vacated its print number one in the week this chart covers, Gail Honeyman is nowhere near done in the Weekly E-Book Ranking: The British Book Awards’ Book of the Year notched up a 15th week as the ebook number one. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Harper) has once again topped the UK Official Top 50, selling 19,984 copies for £111,356. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine has rampaged into the Weekly E-Book Ranking top spot for a 11th consecutive week, bringing its tally of number ones to 12 and edging closer to The Girl on the Train’s all-time record of 19. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Harper) has returned to the UK Official Top 50 number one spot with 22,040 copies sold through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market, ousting Lee Child's The Midnight Line (Bantam). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Helen Morris’ The Tattooist of Auschwitz have held first and second place in the Weekly E-Book Ranking for five weeks straight. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Honeyman’s début continues to remain completely fine at the top of the Weekly E-Ranking. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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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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