BY KRISTYN KUSEK LEWIS
The first adult novel by bestselling YA author Nicola Yoon, One of Our Kind ($28; penguinrandomhouse.com) features Jasmyn Williams, who has just moved into a gorgeous home in Liberty, California, with her young family. Yet it’s not your typical community: It’s a Black utopia, and Jasmyn is excited about her young son growing up in a supportive environment with people who look like him. That is, until she discovers that beyond the manicured lawns and fancy wellness spa, Liberty is hiding a terrifying secret, and fitting in with her Stepfordesque neighbors might be the least of her problems.
David Nicholls (One Day) is famous for writing novels full of British humor that sneak-attack with an emotional punch. And he’s done it again. In You Are Here ($30; harpercollins.com), Michael, 42, and Marnie, 38, are nursing their wounds after failed relationships. Michael avoids being home, where there are too many reminders of his ex. Marnie, meanwhile, hardly ever leaves her apartment. A friend pushes them together for a multiday group hike, the last thing either of them wants to do. Their journey, and what they learn walking side by side, leads to a ridiculously satisfying book about hope and second chances.
In Bear ($28; penguinrandomhouse.com), the new novel by National Book Award finalist Julia Phillips, two sisters in their late 20s care for their ailing mother on a Pacific Northwest island where they were raised. Sam and Elena are desperate for a change, but their jobs catering to wealthy vacationers (one works concessions on the ferry; the other is a bartender at the golf club) barely provide enough to cover their bills. Then a bear shows up—yes, an actual bear—and the two women’s startlingly different reactions make this story, inspired by a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, an exciting portrait of sisterhood.
At 57, Julia Ames is an almost empty-nester living a perfectly nice life married to a perfectly nice guy. While grocery shopping for her husband’s birthday party, she runs into an old friend, a woman who supported her during the difficult days of early motherhood—and almost ruined her marriage. Their random meeting sends Julia reeling, forcing her to confront her long history of complicated desires. With Same as It Ever Was ($30; penguinrandomhouse.com), Claire Lombardo (The Most Fun We Ever Had) has written a second immersive novel with profound insights into relationships.
It’s the summer of 1987 and 16-year-old Diamond Newberry is an outcast in her small New England town, and the only Black person living there since her dad disappeared seven years ago. She begins receiving letters from a relative on her father’s side that unearth her family history. As she learns about the people who came before her, she discovers who she truly is—and who she wants to be. Essie Chambers’s Swift River ($28; simonandschuster.com) is a deeply moving portrayal of a girl you will absolutely fall for and cheer on through every scene of this remarkable debut.
Photograph by Ted Cavanaugh
PROP STYLING BY MARINA BEVILACQUA