A STYLIST BEST QUEER FICTION BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2026
'Immersive, queer and atmospheric. The perfect summer read' EMILY AUSTIN
'Montrone perfectly captures the Homeric, mythic power of childhood's edge, the paradox of days that feel like they last forever, while somehow always being much too short. Every sentence is a heartbreak' HILARY LEICHTER
'A dazzling debut that captures the dizzying intensity of first love' ADAM WILSON
'Transcendent' HEIDI JULAVITS
'This shimmering gem of a novel invites you to re-experience that gut-punch feeling of youthful summer romance. Suffused with moody sunsets, lush summer heat and confused yearning' ANELISE CHEN
'Luscious and transporting' GRACE FLAHIVE
Ten-year-old Leo spends her mornings tidying the rooms of her nonna’s time-worn Italian hotel, quietly accumulating the junk and treasures left behind by guests – a pearl earring, a lock of hair. Her nights are suffused with her father’s liquor-spun tales of his childhood, mingled with stories of Greek heroes of old.
Years later, over another hot, endless Italian summer, the hotel is one of the only things in Leo’s life that has remained constant. An accident has knocked her family sideways; her brother Max is distant and Nonna has grown frail. But then she meets Dolores, an American girl who sets something alight in Leo that she didn’t know existed.
Heat-soaked, sensual and steeped in an exquisite longing, Nymph traverses the extraordinary pains, soaring pleasures and many metamorphoses it takes to finally grow up.
Genre: Literary Fiction
'Immersive, queer and atmospheric. The perfect summer read' EMILY AUSTIN
'Montrone perfectly captures the Homeric, mythic power of childhood's edge, the paradox of days that feel like they last forever, while somehow always being much too short. Every sentence is a heartbreak' HILARY LEICHTER
'A dazzling debut that captures the dizzying intensity of first love' ADAM WILSON
'Transcendent' HEIDI JULAVITS
'This shimmering gem of a novel invites you to re-experience that gut-punch feeling of youthful summer romance. Suffused with moody sunsets, lush summer heat and confused yearning' ANELISE CHEN
'Luscious and transporting' GRACE FLAHIVE
Ten-year-old Leo spends her mornings tidying the rooms of her nonna’s time-worn Italian hotel, quietly accumulating the junk and treasures left behind by guests – a pearl earring, a lock of hair. Her nights are suffused with her father’s liquor-spun tales of his childhood, mingled with stories of Greek heroes of old.
Years later, over another hot, endless Italian summer, the hotel is one of the only things in Leo’s life that has remained constant. An accident has knocked her family sideways; her brother Max is distant and Nonna has grown frail. But then she meets Dolores, an American girl who sets something alight in Leo that she didn’t know existed.
Heat-soaked, sensual and steeped in an exquisite longing, Nymph traverses the extraordinary pains, soaring pleasures and many metamorphoses it takes to finally grow up.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Nostalgic, wistful, and beautifully written. The perfect summer read." - Emily Austin
"This shimmering gem of a novel invites you to re-experience that gut-punch feeling of youthful summer romance. Suffused with moody sunsets, lush summer heat, and confused yearning, studded with scenes of startling clarity and swoon-worthy sentences, Nymph is a truly impressive debut." - Anelise Chen
"Luscious and transporting, Nymph is an evocative and affecting portrait of a family in flux, and a queer coming of age tale deliciously suffused with memory and desire. This book will linger with you long after you turn the last page." - Grace Flahive
"This is a gorgeous book. With writing as lush as the Italian mountains, Montrone casts a gentle but enchanting spell. Nymph vividly evokes so much of what we hold precious: endless summers, the freshness of first love and the bittersweet beauty of our lost youth." - Brian Francis
"Montrone's prose is polished, economic, swift, smart, spiritual. Nymph shows that a book is not defined by its subject matter. It's a transcendent work of intelligence that is also a transcendent work of the senses." - Heidi Julavits
"Nymph is stunning, sunbaked, full of longing, desire, and wisdom. Montrone perfectly captures the Homeric, mythic power of childhood's edge, the paradox of days that feel like they last forever, while somehow always being much too short. Every sentence is a heartbreak in this remarkable debut." - Hilary Leichter
"In Nymph, Sofia Montrone travels with sure-footed grace through two lush and flourishing locales: the mountains of Northern Italy, and the interior landscape of its young protagonist. While the spaces it explores may be untamed, Montrone's lyrical prose is masterfully precise. Nymph is a dazzling debut that captures the dizzying intensity of first love." - Adam Wilson
"This shimmering gem of a novel invites you to re-experience that gut-punch feeling of youthful summer romance. Suffused with moody sunsets, lush summer heat, and confused yearning, studded with scenes of startling clarity and swoon-worthy sentences, Nymph is a truly impressive debut." - Anelise Chen
"Luscious and transporting, Nymph is an evocative and affecting portrait of a family in flux, and a queer coming of age tale deliciously suffused with memory and desire. This book will linger with you long after you turn the last page." - Grace Flahive
"This is a gorgeous book. With writing as lush as the Italian mountains, Montrone casts a gentle but enchanting spell. Nymph vividly evokes so much of what we hold precious: endless summers, the freshness of first love and the bittersweet beauty of our lost youth." - Brian Francis
"Montrone's prose is polished, economic, swift, smart, spiritual. Nymph shows that a book is not defined by its subject matter. It's a transcendent work of intelligence that is also a transcendent work of the senses." - Heidi Julavits
"Nymph is stunning, sunbaked, full of longing, desire, and wisdom. Montrone perfectly captures the Homeric, mythic power of childhood's edge, the paradox of days that feel like they last forever, while somehow always being much too short. Every sentence is a heartbreak in this remarkable debut." - Hilary Leichter
"In Nymph, Sofia Montrone travels with sure-footed grace through two lush and flourishing locales: the mountains of Northern Italy, and the interior landscape of its young protagonist. While the spaces it explores may be untamed, Montrone's lyrical prose is masterfully precise. Nymph is a dazzling debut that captures the dizzying intensity of first love." - Adam Wilson
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Used availability for Sofia Montrone's Nymph