‘Black Cake’ by Charmaine Wilkerson (Balantine, February 1)
In this debut, an estranged brother and sister reunite after their mother’s death. Her last wish for them? “I want you to sit down and share the pie when the time is right. You know when.” Before the novel is over, they will review almost everything they knew about the family.
‘Black Cloud Rising’, by David Wright Faladé (Atlantic Monthly Press, Feb. 22)
During the Civil War, thousands of formerly enslaved men joined the fight against the Confederate troops. This novel depicts the life of one of those soldiers, Richard Etheridge, the son of a black woman who was enslaved by his father.
‘The Books of Jacob’ by Olga Tokarczuk. Translated by Jennifer Croft. (Riverhead, February 1)
The novel, first published in Polish in 2014, is inspired by the true story of Jacob Frank, an 18th-century Jewish mystic. Tokarczuk, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2019, tells more than 900 pages about the life and times of Frank and his followers as he travels through Europe, where he is welcomed as a messiah in some parts and mocked as a charlatan in others.
‘Chilean Poet’ by Alejandro Zambra. Translated by Megan McDowell. (Viking, February 15)
Zambra draws on Chile’s long literary tradition—Pablo Neruda, Roberto Bolaño, and others—in this story of Gonzalo, his stepson Vicente, and the many ways poetry affects their lives.
‘Mercy Street’ by Jennifer Haigh (Ecco, February 1)
Four lives converge at a women’s clinic in Boston as anti-abortion rhetoric flares up. For Claudia, a longtime employee, the presence of protesters outside the office is nothing new, but as their demonstrations become more nerve-wracking and her personal life becomes even more unsatisfactory, she conquers her fear with marijuana. The novel jumps from her perspective to that of her dealer and two of his other customers: a kind, lonely man seeking fellowship at a local church and online, and a fiercely misogynistic anti-abortion activist.
This book, the second installment in James’ epic fantasy trilogy, focuses on Sogolon the moon witch, one of the main characters in ‘Black Leopard, Red Wolf’. She tells her version of what happened in the first part of the series as the book delves into her own origin story.
‘The Nineties’ by Chuck Klosterman (Penguin Press, Feb. 8)
“Decades are about cultural perception, and culture can’t tell a clock,” writes Klosterman, a journalist and culture critic who has made pop culture and generational change its rhythm. In this book, he tries to explain a decade that seems more distant than it really is, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and Y2K anxiety.
‘Pure Color’ by Sheila Heti (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, February 15)
Part parable, part creation story, this novel from the author of “Motherhood” and “How Should a Person Be?” is a philosophical meditation on love and the long reverberation of sadness. Heti divides individuals into three groups, based on their primary focus in life: aesthetic beauty, the well-being of society, or devoted love for those around them.
‘Recitative’ by Toni Morrison (Knopf, February 1)
First published in 1983, this story follows the confused, decades-long friendship between Twyla and Roberta, who meet as children in a shelter. Readers know one woman is black and the other white, but Morrison hides which one. She later called it “an experiment in removing all racial codes from a story about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial.”
‘The Swimmers’, by Julie Otsuka (Knopf, February 22)
In Otsuka’s third novel, a beloved local swimming pool is abruptly shut down after a crack appears in the bottom. One of the regular swimmers, Alice – who relied on her swimming routine to prevent dementia – is overtaken by memories as her grown daughter tries to reconnect.
‘Watergate: A New History’ by Garrett M. Graff (Avid Reader Press, Feb. 15)
Graff, a journalist and historian, offers a new perspective on the scandal that fell Richard Nixon, focusing on the former president’s instigators and the criminals in his outer circle, as well as the whistleblowers and investigators who helped to unravel the crimes. to bring light.
‘Vladimir’ by Julia May Jonas (Avid Reader Press, Feb. 1)
A professor’s life is turned upside down after former students accuse her husband – who also teaches at the school – of sexual misconduct. As the investigation into his behavior progresses, the professor struggles with her own crush on a younger colleague.
