We’re still early in the year and that means months and months of exciting new releases, and all the literary awards of 2018 are still ahead of us. With this in mind, today we thought we’d combine the two and see if we can pick out some novels coming in 2018 that we also think may be up for some of this year’s big literary awards, allowing you addicts to stay ahead of the game.
We don’t have a magic ball, but we do have a fair idea of the books coming this year. So without further ado, here are eight books coming in 2018 that we think you may well have heard of by the end of the year.
Lullaby – Leila Slimani
This French translated novel was released in English last month. It’s already won the Prix Goncourt prize and is a best seller in France, and we think the tale of a nanny who is fatally attached to the family she serves will be one of the big novels of 2018 in the UK too.
Force of Nature – Jane Harper
Force of Nature is out February and is Harper’s second novel. Her first, The Dry was one of the bestselling crime novels last year, and this tale of five women who go hiking in the bush is likely to be just as popular.
A Shout in the Ruins – Kevin Powers
Out in May, this will be the second novel from Powers who won the Guardian First Book Award six years ago for his Iraq novel, The Yellow Birds. The former soldier further explores the violence of the civil war in this new novel.
Warlight – Michael Ondaatje
From the author of Cat’s Cradle and The Booker Prize Winning The English Patient comes this June release. A tale set in London during the Blitz of two children who are apparently abandoned and left in the care of an eccentric parent figure.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh
Out in July and from the author of Eileen, which made the Man Booker shortlist in 2016 comes the dark novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation, seen through the eyes of a privileged woman who is alienated and explores the reasons why.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation US
My Year of Rest and Relaxation UK
Washington Black – Esi Edugyan
The Man Booker shortlisted author of Half-Blood Blues returns in August with a sensational new novel based on a 19th century criminal case about a young slave. The young field slave in the Barbados sugar plantation becomes a slave to an eccentric abolitionist in what is promising to be a thrilling tale.
Transcription – Kate Atkinson
With a double Costa win on two novels in a row (Life After Life and A God in Ruins), Transcription is almost guaranteed to be a bestseller when released in September. This new novel is about a woman who gets involved in the secret service during WWII and reaps the consequences of her idealism.
Melmoth – Sarah Perry
This isn’t expected until October and will be the third novel from the author of The Essex Serpent. Melmoth is inspired by Charles Maturin’s 1820 gothic masterpiece Melmoth the Wanderer and promises both good and evil with a dollop of time travel!
So that’s it, the eight novels we think might be up for some literary awards this year. What new releases are you looking forward to this year? Let us know in the comments.
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