Alternate title: Please, lovely publishers, approve my NetGalley requests.
The rest of 2022 looks absolutely amazing in terms of female-authored fiction. I will not rest until I have these books in my sweaty little bookworm mitts.
Lapvona, by Ottessa Mosfegh (Penguin Press) – released June 21st, 2022
The reviews for Lapvona contain phrases like “gloomy folk horror”, and “a carnival of the grotesque”; it’s basically catnip for me. Moshfegh’s novel Eileen is one of my favorite books in recent memory, and in my opinion, the closest we’ll get to a fair comparison to Shirley Jackson. I cannot wait for Mosfegh’s return to dark fiction.
Strega, by Johanne Lykke Holm, trans. Saskia Vogel. (Riverhead) – released November 1st, 2022
This one may not be on your radar yet, but it should be. Blurbed as “a modern gothic story of nine young women sent to work at a remote Alpine hotel and what happens when one of them goes missing”, I am so ready to see what awful things happen to these ladies.
The Book Eaters, by Sunyi Dean (Tor) – released August 2nd, 2022
“Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book’s content after eating it.” Yep, I’m in.
Children of Paradise, by Camilla Grudova (Atlantic Books) – released July 7th, 2022 (UK, USA TBD)
Can we talk about Camilla Grudova? Have you READ The Doll’s Alphabet? It’s incredible. And she’s influenced by Barbara Comyns, one of the most underrated writers ever. I’ve been waiting for new work from Grudova for AGES, and I am so happy we’re getting a full novel from her.
Seven Empty Houses, by Samanta Schweblin, trans. Megan McDowell (Riverhead) – released October 18th, 2022
Schweblin is one of the best authors of the last decade. Her short stories are incredible, especially On The Steppe, and Butterflies. Her novels, Fever Dream and Little Eyes, are mind-bogglingly amazing. And look at the blurb for her new book:
“In Samanta Schweblin’s tense, visionary tales, something always creeps back in: a ghost, a fight, trespassers, a list of things to do before you die, a child’s first encounter with a dark choice or the fallibility of parents.”
Riverhead, I beg you, please let me have an ARC of this. I need more Schweblin darkness in my brain.
Our Share of Night, by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell (Granta (UK), Hogarth (US)) – released October 13th, 2022 (UK), and February 7th, 2023 (US)
I will say this until I’m blue in the face, but Enriquez’s short story, Adela’s House, is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever read. Enriquez’s is an incredibly unsettling writer, and I am so ready for her 736 page horror epic.
And a huge shout-out to translator extraordinaire Megan McDowell, who appears twice on this list.
The Dark Between the Trees, by Fiona Barnett (Solaris) – released October 11th, 2022
Another one you might have missed. Researchers investigating a historical mysterious disappearance in a wood in Northern England? I am ALL over this.
Okay, what did I miss? What are you looking forward to?
California Reading 