New Literary Fiction Novels For Your Reading List | September 2021

30 Sep 2021

New Literary Fiction Novels For Your Reading List | September 2021

Looking for a new literary fiction or historical fiction book to pick up this week? Check out these new novels by Suanne Laqueur, Jayne Allen, Colleen van Niekerk, Jeffrey Lewis, Leslie Hooton, and Michael Bailey. Enjoy your new novels!


A Small Hotel

by Suanne Laqueur

Release Date: September 28, 2021

A new historical literary fiction novel by award-winning author, Suanne Laqueur…Suanne Laqueur’s eighth novel takes readers on a journey through World War II, and the events that shape an American family’s weakest moments and finest hours. A Small Hotel illuminates the experience of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and their once-in-a-generation camaraderie, courage, and resiliency.

Buy on Amazon

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted

by Jayne Allen

Release Date: September 28, 2021

The first novel in a captivating three-book series by Jayne Allen…Black Girls Must Die Exhausted is about modern womanhood, in which a young Black woman must rely on courage, laughter, and love—and the support of her two longtime friends—to overcome an unexpected setback that threatens the most precious thing she’s ever wanted.

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Land of Cockaigne

by Jeffrey Lewis

Release Date: September 20, 2021

A novel written by Jeffrey Lewis as a sharp parable of American society, addressing love, purpose, discrimination, and poverty…Written as a parable of contemporary American society, Land of Cockaigne is by turns furious, funny, subversive, tragic, and horrifying. Faced with the question of what to do amid disastrous times, Walter Rath offers a clue: Love is an action, not a feeling. Once you go down this path of faith, there is much to be done.

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A Conspiracy of Mothers

by Colleen van Niekerk

Release Date: October 1, 2021

From a bold new voice in literary fiction comes a compelling story of three mothers whose lives intersect during a generation-defining period in South Africa’s history…An evocative debut novel set during a defining period in history, A Conspiracy of Mothers tells a gripping story of love and betrayal from multiple perspectives while deftly balancing the painful legacy of apartheid with the trials of motherhood.

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Psychotropic Dragon

by Michael Bailey

Release Date: September 28, 2021

From the mind of Michael Bailey, author of Palindrome Hannah, Phoenix Rose, and various short fiction and poetry collections, Psychotropic Dragon brings all his work together…Part short novel, part novella, part novelette, with a few short stories and fables in between, Psychotropic Dragon is a mind-bending composite narrative about Julie Stipes and her experience with the street drug Drakein-5. The psychotropic eye drops blur reality, sending her through a horrific journey of self-discovery and recovery. Each act in this ensemble is further brought to life with illustrations by Daniele Serra, Glenn Chadbourne, L.A. Spooner, and Ty Scheuerman. An addictive, scary, and mind-bending experience.

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The Secret of Rainy Days

by Leslie Hooton

Release Date: September 28, 2021

Leslie Hooton, the author of Before Anyone Else, brings her signature wit and Southern charm to the page again in this triumphant coming-of-age story…Bit believes she can escape her grandmother’s controlling grip once and for all by moving somewhere where she is the only Nina Enloe listed: New York. Yet her world is turned upside down when an unexpected loss forces her to leave her new life in the city and return to Erob, where she must face everything—and everyone—she left behind. In the process, Bit discovers her true identity, learns the hard lessons of acceptance and forgiveness, finds herself falling in love in unexpected places, and finds comfort in the secrets of rainy days.

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