Marlena by Julie Buntin

A debut novel about love, addiction, and loss; the story of two girls and the year that will cost one her life, and define the other’s for decades. Reading this, I relived the intense and sometimes self-destructive friendships of my youth.”

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

This debut novel follows the lives of two women whose lives are shaped by historical forces beyond their control. The story traces two half sisters from Ghana – one who marries into wealth and one who’s sold into slavery— and how the legacy of slavery trails their descendants across generations.

The Dark Dark by Samantha Hunt

Novelist Samantha Hunt’s debut short story collection is full of fantastic stories in both senses of the word—they center on women navigating dark, slightly uncanny lives, and are hauntingly excellent to boot.

I Want to Show You More by Jamie Quatro

Jamie Quatro’s debut collection of short stories about family, faith, and infidelity and its aftermath is dark and terrifyingly relatable.