Anna North is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her first novel, America Pacifica, was published in 2011, and her second novel, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark will be published by Blue Rider Press in May 2015. She has been a writer and editor at Jezebel, BuzzFeed, and Salon, and is now a staff editor at the New York Times.
Homebound (2026) Portia Elan "Homebound is the most original and arresting novel I've read in a very long time. Elan has created a century-spanning epic that's also an utterly intimate story of love, loss, and found family. What a joy; what a marvel."
Harmless (2026) Miranda Shulman "At once an astute social novel of the Brooklyn bourgeoisie and a twisty tale of obsession, Harmless swept me up and surprised me with every page. This examination of the dark sides of female friendship and sisterly love will keep you guessing until the very end."
Pelican Girls (2024) Julia Malye "This richly imagined historical saga tells the story of three women, discarded by French society, who have little choice but to make new lives in a country thousands of miles away, married to men they barely know. As their lives intertwine again and again, Malye paints a vivid portrait of displacement and resilience, even as she lays bare the compromises her heroines must make and the ways they become complicit in the inequities of empire."
Sleeping with Friends (2024) (Friends and Enemies, book 1) Emily Schultz "This propulsive thriller will have you on the edge of your seat as old friends reunite to solve a mystery that implicates them all. Schultz raises questions of art and artifice, memory and trust, all while telling a page-turning, unputdownable story."
The Last Language (2023) Jennifer duBois "A novel of razor-sharp intelligence and devastating emotional power, The Last Language asks how and whether we can ever truly understand each other. DuBois's fierce and witty writing illuminates every page as her characters explore the possibilities and limits of human communication, empathy, and love."
Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea (2023) Rita Chang-Eppig "This heart-pounding high-seas adventure is also the moving story of a girl with no options who finds a way to survive, and the costs and consequences of that survival. Shek Yeung - a pirate queen, a mother, a ruthless killer and a loyal friend - is an unforgettable heroine whose journey will keep readers hooked from beginning to end."
The Shamshine Blind (2023) Paz Pardo "In this fiercely intelligent and utterly original debut, Paz Pardo creates an alternate reality that speaks with eerie accuracy to our contemporary anxieties and conflicts. A page-turning mystery, a moving love story, and a technological thriller in one, The Shamshine Blind imagines a world where emotions have become deadly weapons, and a tenacious detective must reckon with her own past in order to find a way through."
Fire Season (2022) Leyna Krow "In this enthralling debut, Leyna Krow brings us the story of three misfits, united by fire, each living out a dream (or nightmare) of the American West. It's an arresting take on magic, science, disaster, and salvation that's eerily resonant with the fire seasons we find ourselves living through today."
The Immortal King Rao (2022) Vauhini Vara "In this richly imagined saga spanning past, present, and future, Vara brings us a visionary who makes the world in his image, and the strong-willed daughter whose life could be his final legacy. Vara's brilliance is matched only by her heart, and this unforgettable debut will challenge what you think you know about genius, capitalism, consciousness, and what it means to be human."
Four Treasures of the Sky (2022) Jenny Tinghui Zhang "A brilliant debut. Weaving together myth and history, Four Treasures of the Sky is both timeless and utterly necessary right now."
The Verifiers (2022) (Claudia Lin, book 1) Jane Pek "Suspenseful and hilarious, The Verifiers builds on the tropes of the whodunnit to bring us something entirely new. In quick-witted gumshoe Claudia Lin, Pek has created an irresistible heroine who must untangle her own family drama even as she investigates the malfeasance of warring online-dating platforms. This novel is a genre-defying joy!"
