But much as I wish the entire publishing world would stop and make way for my novel, I know that’s not how this works. These three books are among those making their way across the pond this month, too.
The Parisian by Isabella Hammad (Grove Press, April 9, 2019)
This literary novel is the story of Midhat Khamal, who returns home to Ottoman Palestine after studying in France to find his country under British rule, and over the course of book, both he and his nation strive for identity and independence. Zadie Smith has glowing praise for this book, calling it “a sublime reading experience: delicate, restrained, surpassingly intelligent, uncommonly poised and truly beautiful”.
The Binding by Bridget Collins (William Morrow, April 16, 2019)
British readers have been raving about this book by my fellow alum of King’s College, Cambridge, since it came out in the UK in January, and perhaps not surprisingly, since there’s nothing passionate bookworms love more than a book about books and their powers. Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when he gets his own equivalent of a Hogwarts letter –a summons to begin an apprenticeship as a Bookbinder, which is a sacred calling. Bookbinders have the power to erase memories, conceal secrets, and lock away the past. Not all Bookbinders have virtuous goals, either – and when Emmett finds his own name on a book, everything changes for him.
Our Life in a Day by Jamie Fewery (Orion, audio: April 18, 2019)
