Best debuts of 2019: despite perennial difficulties, talent has emergedA look at the brightest debuts and collections from this year's emerging authorsWed Dec 11 2019 - 06:00
The God Child: Intriguing debut about life as a Ghanaian immigrantBook review: Nana Oforiatta Ayim explores themes of cultural appropriationSat Nov 30 2019 - 06:00
The Taiga Syndrome: A beguiling story of betrayal and pursuitBook review: Cristina Rivera Garza’s latest novel follows a woman in search of lost loveSat Nov 23 2019 - 06:00
The Tenth Muse review: A brilliantly balanced equationThere’s no painting by numbers in Catherine Chung’s deft novel set in the world of mathsSat Nov 16 2019 - 06:00
Lake Like a Mirror: Surreal but real stories of women in MalaysiaBook review: Ho Sok Fong has written an inventive, troubling second collectionSat Nov 9 2019 - 06:00
It Would Be Night in Caracas review: Dystopian nightmare in VenezuelaKarina Sainz Borgo’s journalistic training is on show in a story of loss and survivalSat Nov 2 2019 - 06:00
The Crossed-Out Notebook: A comic debut with plenty of twistsBook review: Nicolas Giacobone’s first novel is about a screenwriter held captive in a basementFri Nov 1 2019 - 06:00
Fleishman is in Trouble: a tour de force teeming with insights and humourTaffy Brodesser-Akner delves deep into the gender inequalities of sex, marriage, divorce and online dating in modern day New YorkFri Oct 25 2019 - 06:00
Filter This: Timely, terrifying look at the dangers of an Instagram lifeBook review: Sophie White has written a clever, entertaining debutFri Oct 18 2019 - 06:00
A Drop of Patience: Insight into US and race by original woke writerBlack identity and disability are examined in William Melvin Kelley’s rediscovered classicSat Oct 5 2019 - 06:00
Daughter of the Storm: Irish horror for brave young readersTina Callaghan’s gothic mystery set on an island off Ireland heaps drama upon dramaFri Oct 4 2019 - 06:00
Paris Syndrome: Pushing boundaries to document experienceLucy Sweeney Byrne’s debut is gripping and entertaining with a strong feminist bentSat Sep 21 2019 - 06:00
Follow Me to Ground: Innovative and unsettling debut novelReview: Sue Rainsford explores themes of sex, death and the female bodyWed Sep 11 2019 - 06:00
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood: Master sculptor recasts a masterpieceReview: Aunt Lydia’s story is a highlight of the long-awaited Handmaid’s Tale sequelTue Sep 10 2019 - 00:00
The Ditch: A meandering trip through an ageing mindHerman Koch’s tale of a man’s descent into paranoia is entertaining if a bit long-windedThu Sep 5 2019 - 06:00
Baby review: Sharing a boat with a memorable psychopathAnnaleese Jochems unleashes an original debut set in cramped quarters in New ZealandSat Aug 24 2019 - 07:00
The Truants: ‘So this is desire. I want to f**king eat him’Book review: Kate Weinberg’s intelligent debut is set in a vividly rendered English universityFri Aug 23 2019 - 06:00
Skin by EM Reapy: An evocative depiction of the backpacking lifeBook review: EM Reapy, from Mayo, has a lot to live up to after her award-winning debutSat Aug 10 2019 - 06:00
Expectation: Sharp, Sally Rooney-style insights into female friendshipBook review: Anna Hope’s novel looks at the intersecting lives of three friends in LondonMon Aug 5 2019 - 06:00
Dolores review: Short and potent story of a young woman in troubleLauren Aimee Curtis’s original take on teenage pregnancy makes for a vibrant debut novelWed Jul 31 2019 - 06:00
Fake Like Me review: Enjoyable art world murder mysteryBarbara Bourland’s colourful takedown of the New York art world has plenty to say for itselfSat Jul 20 2019 - 06:00
Call Him Mine: Dial M for murderous proseReview: Tim MacGabhann’s debut is billed as a literary crime novel but lacks killer writingThu Jul 18 2019 - 06:00
Something to Live For review: Meaningful end for all the lonely peopleRichard Roper has crafted a compelling mystery in this clever and uplifting debutSat Jul 6 2019 - 06:00
Upperdown review: Murder, mayhem and maths in TipperaryDavid Brennan’s clever Irish debut presents a deeply unsettling worldSat Jun 29 2019 - 06:30
The Sun on My Head review: Fleeting snapshots of favela lifeGeovani Martins, a new literary star from Rio, doesn’t shine as brightly as the hypeSat Jun 22 2019 - 06:10
The Paper Wasp review: Obsessive female friendship turned sourLauren Acampora’s debut novel, set in the Holywood bubble, is gripping and nuancedSat Jun 15 2019 - 06:00
The Rapture: A cult story with overtones of The Handmaid’s TaleBook review: Claire McGlasson’s debut novel maps out the intriguing world of the Panacea SocietyThu Jun 13 2019 - 23:20
She Would Be King: Sarah Jessica Parker and the New York Times love this book. I don’tBook review: Wayétu Moore's imaginative debut gets lost in plodding proseFri Jun 7 2019 - 05:47
Caravan of the Lost and Left Behind review: a Traveller world barely revealedWell-written debut novel raises questions about cultural appropriationMon May 27 2019 - 09:00
Saltwater review: A coming-of-age novel and a fluid and crisp love note to a motherJessica Andrew’s debut novel marks her as a writer to watchSat May 18 2019 - 06:00
The Clothesline Swing review: Striking account of growing up gay in SyriaAhmad Danny Ramadan’s uneven debut novel reflects troubles of a beleaguered minoritySat May 11 2019 - 06:00
Crossing review: Thought-provoking look at gender identity, home and warPajtim Statovci’s second novel tells the story of two Albanian boys struggling with shameSat May 4 2019 - 06:00
Cape May review: Desire and betrayal in 1950s New JerseyChip Creek’s vibrant debut puts two innocent newly-weds in a place where anything goesSat Apr 27 2019 - 06:00
The Old Man and the Sea and the BoyAn off-shore wind farm in the near future grounds this tale of loss and survivalSat Apr 20 2019 - 06:00
Love Notes from a German Building Site: A captivating debutAdrian Duncan’s quietly reflective novel brings to life an engineer’s work in BerlinSat Apr 13 2019 - 06:00
The Fire Starters review: A blazing tale in east BelfastJan Carson’s captivating novel should hopefully earn her international recognitionSat Apr 6 2019 - 06:00
The Confessions of Frannie Langton: From the Caribbean to the courthouseBook review: A captivating historical debut about a slave girl on trial for a double murderSat Mar 30 2019 - 06:00
The Ghost Factory review: A first novel that haunts for the wrong reasonsJenny McCartney’s debut about a friendship in Northern Ireland is let down by the writingSat Mar 23 2019 - 06:00
The Red Word review: provocative treatise on rape cultureSarah Henstra has an acerbic style that works well for her takedown of campus frat cultureSat Mar 16 2019 - 06:00
Last Ones Left Alive review: Survival thriller in dystopian IrelandSarah Davis Goff excels in describing macabre detail in clear and visual proseSat Mar 9 2019 - 06:00
Show Them a Good Time by Nicole Flattery: A bright new Irish voiceDebut collection from Mullingar author has great wit, depth and momentumSat Mar 2 2019 - 06:00
Permission review: Compelling take on sex and power in LASaskia Vogel’s debut novel is told through the eyes of an actor grieving her fatherSat Feb 23 2019 - 06:00
Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li: Full of flavourA captivating debut novel gives a flavour of life in the American service industrySat Feb 16 2019 - 06:00
You Know You Want This review: sex, shame and desire exploredCat Person author Kristen Roupenian’s short stories chronicle modern sexual politicsSat Feb 9 2019 - 06:00
The Familiars review: Trials and tribulations in a bewitching debut novelDark arts and a dark patriarchy in 17th-century Lancashire from Stacey HallsSat Feb 2 2019 - 06:00
Something Like Breathing review: a breath of fresh airA charming, offbeat debut about two teenage girls living on a remote Scottish islandSat Jan 26 2019 - 06:00
Golden Child review: A book with the Midas touchA beautifully written debut from Claire Adam about sacrifice and violence in contemporary TrinidadSat Jan 19 2019 - 06:00
Music Love Drugs War: Debut novel set in 1980s Derry fails to deliver on teenage kicksBook is heavy with weight of too many voices and lacks discernment as it switches between themSat Jan 12 2019 - 05:59
Jokes for the Gunmen review: unsettling debut mixes humour and warMazen Maarouf’s collection of stories weaves the domestic with the horrificSat Jan 5 2019 - 06:00
My Sister, The Serial Killer review: darkly comic debut novelOyinkan Braithwaite writes about sisterly love and murder in a light-hearted mannerSat Dec 29 2018 - 06:00