We recommend: The best new book releases

Editor’s note: Dive into this wide-ranging list of new and upcoming book releases, both fiction and nonfiction. We have Sonia Gandhi’s much awaited new memoir, Belonging. Novels by Jodi Picoult and Amit Chaudhuri. Elif Shafak reimagining what the women in French novelist Gustave Flaubert's life may have had to say. A portrait of Princess Diana by her brother; the origin story of Sly Stallone’s Rocky, and much more.

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FICTION

In One Brief Moment All Eternity by Elif Shafak

Emma Bovary, the protagonist in Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, was a scandalous, preposterous literary woman. She does die in the book, but not without leaving a lasting impact on the world of literature. Elif Shafak, in her new book, reimagines what she might have had to say about it all.

In In One Brief Moment All Eternity, Shafak takes the liberty to write on behalf of all the women who may have played a role in Flaubert’s life, handing over the pen to these characters, real and literary, and reimagining what their lives may have been like. A thrilling reinvention and re-telling of sorts—from the fictional Emma to the actual women in Flaubert’s life—it sets out on a journey to take risks and make visible what is often invisible in the stories that stand the test of time.

The Un-Wife Club by Akriti Tyagi

Five women, living completely different lives, with different problems and pasts that haunt them, meet by chance at a random cafe. This is the story of Mira, Simran, Tara, Amaya, and Izna. Marriages, careers, families—all of these become part of the conversations that bring them closer to each other. But beyond that, there are things they are scared to name and confront. Choices they do not feel brave enough to make. When buried truths are unsurfaced, these women must learn what it means to confront the past, and to find their way back to themselves. This book is a meditation on female friendships and the complexities of leaving behind a life you know for a life you want.

A Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J Maas

In 2015, Sarah J Maas published A Court of Thorns and Roses, a fantasy romance novel about Feyre Archeron, a 19-year-old brought into a world different from her own when she kills a faerie wolf. As she continued publishing books in the series, its popularity only grew, and now, A Court of Thorns and Roses (also known as ACOTAR) has a sixth book in its lineup.

In this iteration, the faerie world, Prythian, is recovering from a war, while Koschei the Deathless, an old god, stirs, growing in power. The question arises: will the Fae be able to unite against the looming darkness and violence, or are the rifts too wide to overcome?

Hollywood, Ending by John Green

John Green’s novels have often dealt with some thorny subjects—sometimes too real. And while this novel is written for and about adults unlike his earlier YA books, it doesn’t shy from this practice. After a nine-year break from fiction, Green brings us the story of Juniper Castillo, a child star, and Kai Laramie, a young man with a complicated past. The book follows these two as they co-star in a movie titled Andy Warhol Never Gets Old; they navigate the realities of fame and celebrity and—of course—fall in love.

Hollywood, Ending is told through both the characters’ points of view, highlighting the difficulties of finding the balance between a public and private life, and examining the stark reality of the attention economy. Laura Miller writes for Slate,

From the ugly vampirism of celebrity culture to the venality of the movie business, Hollywood, Ending has moments that come as close as Green has ever gotten to savage. At heart, though, he’s a tender writer whose abiding concern through all his work is what it takes to remain decent in a ruthless and impersonal world.

Château Rouge by Amit Chaudhuri

An Indian writer finds himself in Paris on a fellowship. He’s in a sublet in Château Rouge, in “Little Africa”, and it possesses little of the romance, cliched as it may seem, of the Paris he had envisioned. Amit Chaudhuri’s ninth novel, much like his best works, finds its home in the mundane and the ordinary, with not much of note happening. The narrator here goes on walks, befriends a couple of Bangladeshi people. His wife points out that, were Hemingway to be in Paris today, he’d probably be staying at a Château Rouge too. And thus begins his journey into understanding the world he’s inhabiting. This novel, as The Observer states, is about “the disorientation of being neither native nor tourist”.

Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult

Celebrated author Picoult’s new book deals with the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. The novel centres around Molly Fitzgerald, whose mother went to the World Trade Center on the fateful day and never came back. Having undergone such unspeakable loss, she grows up with the imminent fear of disasters, and with a desire to help. She works in the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness and is married to a police polygraph expert, Jesse. But it turns out that the peace too is short-lived. 

The French Illusion by John Grisham 

Grisham’s latest, a page-turner, is about a honeymoon gone awry. Paul and Chelsea Tanner have a dreamy wedding and, as they continue to Paris for their honeymoon, their joyride is upended. They are kidnapped, leaving their families in the lurch. The narrative only gets more dense as questions keep piling up and the suspense gets more deafening, bringing in the involvement of both the FBI and the CIA. Expectantly riveting, the novel marks a pivot from the author’s usual exploration of legal dramas. 

Chain Reaction by Lee Child and Andrew Child

The latest in the Jack Reacher series continues with the adventure. This time, the popular character who served in the US army is MIA even as the search to track him down is on. But when a murder occurs, Reacher’s help is sought. He heads to a town in Colorado which has a handful of people. Trained to finish the job at hand, he undertakes the mission to find the killer as his actions are under surveillance. 

NONFICTION

The World Was Not Their Story: Odyssey of an Indian Reporter by Saeed Naqvi

Saeed Naqvi, veteran Indian journalist with stints at The Statesman and Indian Express and prestigious international publications, writes a powerful memoir looking back at his eventful and memorable career as a journalist travelling India and the world. From breaking the story of the Beatles coming to India in 1968—alongside a little-known photographer named Raghu Rai—to interviewing Prime Ministers and powerful international politicians, Naqvi takes us through the many highlights of his storied career, while advocating for Indian journalism to develop its own viewpoints on international affairs, rather than merely relying on narratives pushed by the West. Read an excerpt from The World Was Not Their Story.

Belonging: A Journey of Love by Sonia Gandhi

Belonging, “a story of love, duty, loss and finding a place to belong” in her own words, is bound to dominate the airwaves come November. This hotly awaited memoir by Sonia Gandhi, now 79, looks back at her life in the public eye, facing unimaginable loss and scrutiny as a formidable political force. Even before its release, the book has already seen much controversy—its publication was stalled as Penguin Random House India had a “disagreement” with the author during an editorial review, leading to speculation of external pressure which was denied by the publishing house; the book, releasing on November 10, is now being published in India by Harper Collins.

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister by Charles Spencer

The world’s fixation with Diana is not new. The new book by her brother draws out an intimate portrait of ‘the People's Princess’, one that looks beyond the persona and tracks the relationship the author shared with his sister. Along with this, the memoir provides insight into Diana and Charles’s much contended marriage.

A review in The Guardian states, “At his best, in these passages, Spencer acts as a proxy for the rest of us by registering the absolute lunacy of those days after Diana’s death – by which I mean not the public outpouring, but the behaviour of the royal family, who remained deaf to the nation’s needs until they were forced to change course.”

The Third Eye by George Harrison

Most of the photographs in this book have never been published before. Featuring snaps from 1963 to 1969, following the Beatles on their tours and travels, this book chronicles their world from behind the scenes, offering readers a glimpse into the whirlwind that was the Beatles era. The book is filled with candids, portraits and group photos of the Beatles members, their friends, touring members, and more.

The Steps by Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone remains an entertainer at heart, even on The Steps, his charming new memoir where the lines between reality and fiction are often blurred as Stallone’s own story mirrors that of his most iconic character, Rocky Balboa. From being on the brink—struggling and broke—to writing the first draft for Rocky in days and insisting, despite tempting offers to sell it off—that he’ll play the titular character himself, we get a delightful rags-to-riches story. And while there’s some masala and some bits that may appear overblown for effect, this stuff is all largely verified and accurate. As The Guardian writes: 

Believe in yourself, he advises. Roll with the punches. Never throw in the towel. His memoir reads like a breakneck self-help manual in which the author is variously cast as guide, guru and crash-test dummy. Stallone – a keen student of narrative structure – knows that failure packs more dramatic punch than success, and shrewdly wraps up his account just as his film storms the Oscars. The man loses every round but the last, which is of course all that matters.