21 Hot New Novels for Summer


Also notable

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

A feel-good, funny tale from the author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor, The Guncle follows gay Uncle Patrick, who has to adapt to a new way of life as he hosts niece Maisie and nephew Grant for the summer in the aftermath of a family tragedy. (May 25)

Love and Fury by Samantha Silva

Silva imagines the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, the late 18th-century feminist thinker and mother of the novelist Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein). Wollstonecraft led a fascinating life, which Silva depicts with rich detail. (May 25)

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand

Already a number 1 best seller, this latest from the beach-reads queen is about a novelist on Nantucket (of course) who’s killed in a hit-and-run, and looks down upon her family from a place called the Beyond. She’s given the power to influence them, and wrestles with how best to do so. (June 1)

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

In Cronin’s tender debut (already slated to be adapted for film), a feisty 17-year-old who’s facing a tough terminal illness bonds with an 83-year-old patient in a hospital art therapy class. Together the two decide to create 100 paintings depicting a story from each year of their combined lives. (June 1)

Ridgeline by Michael Punke

The author who brought us the 2002 novel The Revenant (turned into a 2015 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio) has a new historical saga, this one featuring fierce tensions between land-hungry settlers and Lakota people, including Crazy Horse, in 1860s Wyoming. (June 1)

Island Queen by Vanessa Riley

This historical novel is based on the real-life story of Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, a former enslaved person in the colonial West Indies who became a wealthy landowner and businesswoman. Doll, as she’s known, attracts the wrath of powerful men as she defies all conventions. (July 21)

Blind Tiger by Sandra Brown

A thriller set in 1920s Texas, Brown’s latest features a ranch hand, Thatcher, who becomes the prime suspect in the possible murder of a woman who’s disappeared. A tough young widow joins forces with Thatcher against a tide of corruption and menace in town. (Aug. 3)

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

Inti Flynn, a biologist working with her team to reintroduce wolves into the Scottish Highlands, faces the locals’ fury, while trying to help her twin sister, Aggie, heal from a traumatic past. It’s a moving, moody story by the author of the 2020 novel Migrations. (Aug. 3)

In the Country of Others by Leila Slimani

Slimani’s first novel since her hit The Perfect Nanny is set during World War II, and focuses on a young Frenchwoman, Mathilde, who moves to Morocco after falling for a Moroccan soldier. The independent Mathilde finds herself constricted in a land with rigid social codes, as conflict erupts. (Aug. 10)