Must-Read Novels of Early 2026

What are the novels everyone will be talking about in early 2026?

Great question. Well, later this month, we can look forward to the first full-length novel by George Saunders since his 2017 Booker Prize-winning fantasia Lincoln in the Bardo—which was truly one of the funniest, strangest and saddest books I have ever read. Since then, Saunders has published a short story collection (Liberation Day) and an essay collection (A Swim in a Pond in the Rain), but the publication of this new novel, Vigil, will be a major event.

Tell us more about Vigil. 

As with Lincoln in the Bardo, Vigil follows one person’s transition from life to the afterlife. The novel unfolds at the bedside of an oil company CEO, as angelic beings attempt to force him to reflection. “I found myself wondering about that generation of climate change deniers who, through obfuscation and spin, put progress on hold for twenty or thirty years, and are now old and passing away,” as Saunders explained in a statement accompanying the book’s announcement. All of which sounds rather thoughtful and bittersweet—but, this being Saunders, the blurb also features the words “careening”, “hurtling”, “clamoring”… Buckle up, in other words: it’s going to be a wild ride.

Saunders himself is an interesting man, who has spoken very honestly about his evolution from an “Ayn Rand Republican” and oil prospector to revered creative writing professor at Syracuse. But his fiction goes beyond honesty, beyond perceptiveness, and into something much weirder and more mysterious—and, I think, more profound. Don’t miss it.

I think you also wanted to mention a new book by his fellow Booker Prize-winner Douglas Stuart. This is John of John, which is out in May.

That’s right. This is Douglas Stuart’s third novel. It follows a young, gay artist as he returns to the Scottish Outer Hebrides, where he grew up as the closeted son of a dour Presbyterian crofter and lay preacher. There, he encounters many people from his past, many of whom are hiding secrets of their own. Kirkus have already given it a starred review, noting:

The central question of the book, which is facing all the main characters, is whether it’s possible to inhabit the place one calls home as one’s genuine self. Stay or go? Life or death? By the end, this issue is resolved in a variety of tragic and hopeful ways.

Though the novel is highly specific to time (the 1990s) and place (the Isle of Harris), I suspect this is a question that haunts a great many people who have grown up in rural communities or conservative cultures. And, if John of John is anything like Stuart’s previous novels (Shuggie Bain, Young Mungo), this one will be a heart-breaker.

Shall we talk about Gwendoline Riley’s The Palm House next? It’s out in April.

Yes, let’s. Riley’s previous book My Phantoms—about a woman’s difficult relationship with her mother—was very much admired in literary circles. This new novel features two friends, Laura and Edward, who face death and despondency, and balance a precarious life as writers in the British capital.

Expect crystalline prose, an unflinching eye, and thoughtful digressions on life and art. This book, Riley’s seventh novel, was reportedly the subject of a six-way auction; Picador, the winning publisher, has described it as her “finest novel yet.”

Any other buzzed about books coming out at the start of this year?

Yes, in March, there will be a new novel from Asako Yuzuki, whose earlier novel about a serial killer cook, Butter, has been an international sensation, selling almost 300,000 copies in the UK alone. This new novel, also translated into English by Polly Barton, features a highly strung Japanese food executive who becomes obsessed with a housewife who shares details of her chaotic lifestyle online.

It’s described as “a thrilling and unsettling story of the line between friendship and dangerous obsession”, and it’s been selected as one of the most highly anticipated novels of spring 2026 by publications as varied as The Guardian, Vogue, The New York Times, Lithub, and Forbes.

Any debut writers forecast to make waves in early 2026?

Tara Menon, an assistant professor at Harvard, has attracted a six-figure advance and sold the translation rights to more than 30 languages for Under Water, her first novel due to be published in March, which is set between the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Thailand and the landfall of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. A Publishers Weekly review declared: “Menon crafts vivid depictions of tropical marine life and offers a visceral depiction of survivor’s guilt”, noting that it was “sure to pull at the reader’s heartstrings.”

It has already attracted praise from many literary heavyweights—including Katie Kitamura (“a novel of remarkable delicacy and power”) and Namwali Serpell (“immersive and stirring, pellucid and mysterious, shot through with light and with shades”). It will certainly make a splash.

What new novels are you looking forward to reading this season? Let us know on social media