Six new books arrive in stores this November
Publishers are releasing six titles this month that range from a secret novel by Don DeLillo to a history of Amazonian poison.
By Ayanda Kaminski ·
Six new titles are hitting bookstore shelves this month.
The releases include fiction, nonfiction, and a newly published work under a pseudonym. Authors Louise Kennedy, Mary Beth Keane, Matt O'Hara, Daisy Johnson, Tahmima Anam, and Cleo Birdwell are all featured in the lineup.
Louise Kennedy, a Northern Irish author and former chef, is returning with her second novel, Stations. In a 2022 interview, she described writing as "strangely liberating" after working as a chef for nearly three decades. The book explores the aftermath of a young romance strained by family history, similar to her debut, Trespasses.
Mary Beth Keane's new novel, Whale Harbor, follows an Irish father and his sons across different continents. Maureen Corrigan, a book critic for Fresh Air, previously compared Keane to Ann Patchett in a review of Keane's 2019 book, Ask Again, Yes. Corrigan noted that both writers can make domestic tales feel universal.
Matt O'Hara, a history professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, publishes The Flying Death: Poison, Plunder, and the Quest for a Miracle Medicine in the Amazon. The book examines curare, a lethal poison used in blowdarts by Amazon tribes. The pursuit of its medicinal properties began in the 1930s and led to new advances in pharmacology.
Daisy Johnson, who became the youngest Booker Prize finalist at age 27 for her 2018 debut Everything Under, releases Long Wave. The novel features spare prose and a foreboding atmosphere. It centers on women who carry family bonds that feel like broken glass.
Tahmima Anam's Uprising is set on a river island in Bangladesh. The story is told largely from the perspective of children born to women trapped in prostitution. The arrival of a new girl begins to shift the dynamic on the island, which is facing rising waters due to climate change.
Cleo Birdwell, the pseudonymous pen name of American novelist Don DeLillo, is back in print with Amazons: An Intimate Memoir by the First Woman Ever to Play in the National Hockey League. DeLillo did not publicly acknowledge writing the book until 2020. He approved its republication earlier this year with a preface that is a business card containing the statement, "I don't want to talk about it."
Source: WVIZ
