June’s Best New Fiction

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, by Arundhati Roy
Roy’s debut novel, The God of Small Things, came out twenty years ago, and this follow-up promises to be worth the wait with its complex, lovingly rendered characters, whose disparate, occasionally tragic lives intertwine in ways both unexpected and inevitable. Set in Old Delhi and Kashmir, where a displaced outsider sleeps on her ancestors’ graves at night, it’s the story of an abandoned baby whose arrival alters the lives of those who wish to claim her. Packed with soulful love stories between parents and children, and lovers old and new.

The Identicals, by Elin Hilderbrand
Hop on the fast ferry to Martha’s Vineyard and meet the 39-year-old Frost sisters: fun-loving, hard-drinking Harper, who’s allergic to responsibility, and her estranged, identical twin sister, Tabitha, a cultured and elegant woman and single mother who lives a few miles away in Nantucket, where she struggles to keep their mother’s boutique afloat. The twins haven’t gotten along in years, but when scandal engulfs them both, they decide to swap islands—and lives—in a desperate attempt to help right each other’s wrongs. Scrumptious and intelligent beach fare.

The Duchess, by Danielle Steel
19th-century Britain: You’re a duchess whose brothers have turned against you upon your beloved father’s death—so what do you do to survive? If you’re Angelique Latham, a young woman of impeccable breeding, smarts, and beauty, you put the cruel past behind you and find a way to escape to Paris, where you open a high-end brothel. The establishment, Le Boudoir, accepts only the kindest, wealthiest, and most powerful clients. Despite her success in this arena, Angelique yearns to return to her former standing, but fears she is destined to live out her life as a product of its era.

Seven Stones to Stand or Fall: A Collection of Outlander Fiction, by Diana Gabaldon
A must-own collection for lovers of Gabaldon’s mega-popular, riveting Outlander books (and the TV series), it comes with two never-before-published novellas. The rest of the collection consists of short stories that illuminate the lives of fan favorite characters (swoon, Jamie Fraser), some of which have previously appeared online or in other anthologies. Here, they’re all together for the first time. The tale I’m most excited to read concerns criminal dealings in rare books.

Little French Bistro, by Nina George
When her miserable marriage detonates after forty-plus years, Marianne’s planned exit—she jumps into the Seine while on a trip to Paris—eventually leads to her living in the coastal town of Port de Kerdruc. Though lacking knowledge of the French language, she’s welcomed by the locals, particularly the chef at the title bistro. A charming feast for the senses, translated from its original German, this ultimately hopeful story about the unexpected, well-earned delights of a suicidal woman’s third act will build upon fans’ appreciation of George’s previous bestseller, The Little Paris Bookshop.

Kiss Carlo, by Adriana Trigiani
A life-changing telegram is at the heart of this historical novel, set at the dawn of television’s golden age in post–WWII Philly, where the Palazzini family operate a cab company and Western Union telegraph office. Adopted son Nicky realizes he can no longer pretend his current life is enough for him. The truth is he loves the stage—particularly Shakespeare’s comedies, which perfectly mesh with global bestseller Trigiani’s brand of romance and humor—and longs to pursue his passions there. But the whole family is bursting with long-kept secrets, and uncovering them will be a treat for readers.

The Chalk Artist, by Allegra Goodman
Goodman’s eighth novel, a love story and empathetic character study, explores the addictive allure of virtual reality games and the age-old battle between art and commerce. Young, idealistic English teacher Nina, whose father runs a wildly successful gaming tech company, falls for Collin, an art-school dropout, talented but depressed, whose chalk art process necessarily includes erasing his own work. Their connection inspires them to pursue greater heights, even while two of Nina’s difficult-to-reach students struggle with changing relationships with themselves and each other.

Rich People Problems, by Kevin Kwan
Champagne clinks, everyone! Kwan is back with his third novel about hilariously, insanely rich Asians bickering over fashion, marriage, social standing, and (of course) money. Despite its distinctly modern setting and locales, there’s a classic “novel of manners” vibe to these books, which is why they’re catnip for fans of Jane Austen, William Thackeray, and Edith Wharton. In Problems, we find Nick Young and his controversial (read: not wealthy) wife Rachel returning to Singapore after Nick’s helluva dame grandmother, Su Yi, with whom Nick is estranged, falls ill. The main issue that has the elite families of China in a scheming, soapy lather: Who will inherit Tyersall Park, Su Yi’s absurdly decadent compound?

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Golden Age of Hollywood had more than its share of scandalous secrets, and an iconic 1950s starlet, Evelyn Hugo, is about to reveal them all—or at least seven of them, corresponding to her infamous seven husbands. Now in her late 70s, Evelyn has chosen a seemingly random journalist who has fallen on hard times to confess to, and her reasons for this are just one of the juicy mysteries readers will be eager to discover. Within its tabloid-yummy trappings, this book has depth, heart, and emotion to spare.

The Sunshine Sisters, by Jane Green
When their difficult (to put it mildly) mother, a former B-movie star, calls them home to help her end her life, the Sunshine sisters, Meredith, Nell, and Lizzy, are reluctant to make the trip. Selfish Ronni Sunshine was not an easy or loving parent, and the grown daughters have each been damaged in different ways by her past behavior. As soon as they could, they scattered across the world to escape. However, now that they’re reunited, perhaps they can see their way forward with a renewed connection and sense of purpose.