PREVIEWER’S PERSPECTIVE Previewer’s perspective
Ishiguro, McGregor and Riley lead heavyweight fiction offer
Commercial and critical hits from Richard Osman and Maggie O’Farrell ought to sell well in paperback form, with new offerings from Kazuo Ishiguro, Jon McGregor and Gwendoline Riley set to get acres of coverage
Alice O’Keeffe Books editor
S
pring has sprung in the world of fiction previews— welcome to 2021! When I wrote last year’s introduc- tion to the Autumn 2020 Buyer’s Guide, I observed
that books were pinballing around the schedules due to the pandemic and, sadly, it looks like this will continue into 2021. But let us be hopeful that your bookshops will be open—and full of customers—and look forward to the fictional delights of the next six months. Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (Faber) will be the closest thing to “event publishing” in the first half of this year; publicit-wise, can Faber match what Fourth Estate did for Hilary Mantel last year? Fourth Estate has a literary superstar of its own with Jon McGregor’s latest, Lean Fall Stand. Gwendoline Riley’s My Phantoms (Granta) is not to be missed, and I’m very much looking forward to the new Esther Freud, I Couldn’t Love You More (Bloomsbury). If I’ve really enjoyed a début, I am always keen to seek out the author’s second novel. I’ve already read Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom (Viking), and can tell you it is every bit as good as her dazzling début Homegoing. A J Pearce follows her heartwarming début with a direct sequel, so Yours Cheerfully (Picador) will pick straight up from where Dear Mrs Bird leſt off. My Sister, the Serial Killer was fab, and Oyinkan Braithwaite returns with a Quick Reads title, The Baby is Mine (Atlantic). I tend to shy away from recommending débuts until I’ve actually read them, but the first novel from Mel Giedroyc (one half of comic TV duo Mel & Sue), The Best Things, will have strong support from Headline. Also treading the path from comedy to novels is Andi Osho, with her rom-com début Asking for a Friend (HQ). Two further débuts I have read, and loved, are Lucy Jago’s A Net for Small Fishes (Bloomsbury) and Leone Ross’ This One Sky Day (Faber). Finally, to paperbacks. Even though Richard Osman’s
Kazuo Ishiguro’s
Klara and the Sun will be the closest
thing to ‘event publishing’ in the first half of this year
The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) was a record- breaking smash hit in hardback, there will be plent of sales to be had with the new format. Joining those crime- solving pensioners in the bestseller category, I hope, will be Maggie O’Farrell’s exquisitely told Hamnet (Tinder Press), now the deserved winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. O’Farrell bridges the literary/commercial divide with ease, as does Nick Hornby, whose Just Like You (Penguin) should be massive. Another major prize-winner which should enjoy significant paperback sales is Douglas Stuart’s Booker Prize-winning Shuggie Bain (Picador). Happy bookselling!
Have your say
You can find Alice on Twitter (@aliceokbooks), or make contact via email (
alice.okeeffe@thebookseller.com)
08
The Bookseller Buyer’s Guide Fiction
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
