There are lots of fantastic titles by debut authors that came to the library in February. If you would like a more comprehensive list, please visit our catalog. Enjoy!
“Only Killers and Thieves” by Paul Howarth
Two brothers, Billy and Tommy McBride, seek revenge for the murder of their parents and younger sister in the Australian outback in the 1880s. Believing their family was murdered by an aboriginal man, the boys set off on a manhunt accompanied by a neighboring rancher and Inspector Noone of the Native Mounted Police.
However, relations are strained between the white settlers and the natives they have brutally oppressed, and the manhunt becomes a massacre. While Billy embraces the violence and sense of vengeance, Tommy is sickened by the cruelty they witness, and his growing conscience jeopardizes the brothers’ relationship.
“Song of a Captive Bird” by Jasmin Darznik
This novel was inspired by the life of Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
Taught from childhood to be quiet, modest and always obedient, Forugh searches for ways to rebel against the limitations impressed on her by society and her family. She begins writing poetry to impress her disapproving father, but even as her passion for poetry grows, she is forced into a stifling marriage.
Escaping by running away and beginning an affair, Forugh searches for freedom as she continues to pour her passion and desire into her poetry, for which she is both praised and vilified. The power of her writing gathers strength amidst the Iranian revolution as she becomes the voice of early feminism in Iran.
“The French Girl” by Lexie Elliott
When six friends from Oxford spend a week together in a French farmhouse they meet Severine, the beautiful girl next door whose presence draws the friends’ underlying tensions bubbling to the surface. The last night of their holiday, Severine disappears, not to be seen again.
10 years later, the investigation into her disappearance is reopened when her body is found in the well behind that same farmhouse. Kate Channing—one of the six, and the one who resented Severine’s presence from the beginning—finds suspicion closing in around her. Kate must sort through her own hazy memories, as well as the secrets and enemies that resurface with Severine’s body, to free herself of Severine forever.
“By the Book” by Julia Sonneborn
In this retelling of Jane Austen’s “Persuasion,” Anne Corey—an English professor determined to secure a tenured position at her college—can’t afford any distractions. All she had to do is teach a full load of classes, get her book published and take care of her aging father.
But distracted is just what Anne becomes when she finds out her college’s new president is her ex-fiance, Adam Martinez. Even as her feelings for Adam begin to resurface, Anne is caught up in a developing romance with writer-in-residence Rick Chasen.
Other titles of note by debut authors:
- “Only Child” by Rhiannon Navin
- “The House of Impossible Beauties” by Joseph Cassara
- “Sirens” by Joseph Knox
- “Asymmetry” by Lisa Halliday
