May 2, 2026
There is a bit of tugging at the heartstrings this week. We celebrate the happy return of a prize-winning Scottish novelist with a family story of secrets and missed connections; a beautiful elegy from a versatile writer honoring her husband’s death as powerfully as Didion did; a story collection from a longtime academic whose Midwestern sensibility will redefine wry wit; a dark comedic tale of female vengeance by a British writer who knows how to entertain his readers; and a scintillating debut about an East Indian Muslim family’s crisis in Miami.
Happy reading,
Melanie Fleishman
Buyer, The Center for Fiction Bookstore
Featured Books
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John of John
By DOUGLAS STUART
Published by GROVE PRESS
A crofting village in the Outer Hebrides is the setting for Stuart’s (Booker Prize-winning Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo) splendid latest. The two Johns are father John Macleod, a weaver and deacon living with his Glaswegian mother-in-law (his wife left years ago), and son John-Calum (Cal), our protagonist, reluctantly back to determine his future after several years at college in Edinburgh. The secret both father and son keep—from each other and the world—is their love of men. Stuart says the book is about “the small sacrifices that families make for one another.” His characters are crafted with meticulous care; they will break your heart with their stoicism, tenderness, and folly.
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Patient, Female
By JULIE SCHUMACHER
Published by MILKWEED EDITIONS
Ever since the mid-’90s, Schumacher’s reputation has been growing. Best known for her hilarious academic trilogy, she returns with a collection that proves she is one of our finest storytellers. In “Passengers,” a mother grapples with the fallout after her daughter accidentally pushes a classmate off a jungle gym; in “Urn,” a sister and brother’s complicated dynamic emerges when their mother dies; in “How My Light Is Spent,” a reluctant poetry teacher at a third-rate community college finds unexpected solace in a blind student. Each piece has small revelations that give crystalline insight into these unforgettable characters. Schumacher’s wit and mordant tone belies her incisive understanding of the human heart.
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Ghost Stories
By SIRI HUSTVEDT
Published by SIMON & SCHUSTER
Hustvedt’s husband of forty years, the unforgettable novelist, poet, screenwriter, political activist, and lover of baseball—Paul Auster—passed away from lung cancer almost exactly two years ago. In her reflective new book, Hustvedt explains, “…grief is a particular kind of unrequited love.” She also displays her endless curiosity about philosophy, art, all things medical, and poetry. Their many friendships with like-minded intellectuals like Salman Rushdie, their musician daughter Sophie and her husband and son, and Hustvedt’s tight Norwegian family were an essential part of Auster’s support system in his last days. Above all, this is a love story about finding one’s soulmate. Despite the familial tragedies endured, one can’t help but feel Siri and Paul were incredibly lucky.
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Look What You Made Me Do
By JOHN LANCHESTER
Published by W. W. NORTON
Kate fell for Jack, her best friend’s handsome boyfriend, when they were still in college. They got together and eventually embarked on a magical marriage based on shared philosophies. Decades in, Jack tragically dies. Then a TV series called Cheaters goes viral, featuring shocking similarities to their marriage–replete with secret phrases and other private details–except for a philandering husband (which, as far as Kate knew, was not the case). We meet Phoebe, the daughter of the jilted college friend who supposedly wrote the series. But was Cheaters actually written by a woman with whom Jack had a secret affair? As both Kate’s and Phoebe’s lives unravel, this compelling story of double revenge draws you in. Who will win?
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Abundance
By HAFEEZ LAKHANI
Published by COUNTERPOINT
Childhood neighbors Ramzan and Sakeena left Rawalpindi, India, decades ago for a Muslim community in Miami, where they have raised three children and run a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise. The dramatic engine of this poignant debut is the news that Sakeena must have a liver transplant to live, a step she is reluctant to take. This sets in motion an avalanche of emotions within the family, along with the seeming impossibility of bringing the children together to discuss the options. Lakhani, one of The Center’s 2016 Emerging Writer Fellows, expertly weaves the story of hardworking immigrants living the American dream—whose offspring have taken a different path from their parents—into a novel of gentle power.
