Millennials can’t have affairs like the ones portrayed in classic novels and films. They’re too busy, too strapped for cash, too ethical—or so Erin Somers’s whip-smart comic novel, The Ten Year Affair, seems to suggest. Below, Somers discusses the famous mid-20th-century stories of adultery that informed her work.
Among other books hitting the shelves next week, my colleagues and I recommend the latest novel from Claire-Louise Bennett, in which a woman reflects on her past lovers, and a new biography of Tupac Shakur.
If that’s not enough, we hear from Alexandria Bellefleur about her Faustian sapphic romance, and Tiffany D. Jackson explains how her latest thriller was inspired by the Sarah Lawrence sex cult.
Happy reading!
—David Varno
Starred Reviews Releasing Next WeekCheck out all the books to receive starred PW reviews that are hitting shelves next week. more
Erin Somers on 5 Quintessential Postwar Tales of AdulteryThe novelist reflects on the enduring appeal of novels and stories by authors such as John Cheever and Richard Yates and shares how they shaped her latest, The Ten Year Affair. more
Hot as Hell: PW Talks with Alexandria BellefleurA heartbroken woman makes a deal with a sexy demon to win back her ex-girlfriend in the Lambda Award winner’s The Devil She Knows. more
How The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson Got MadeThe author's YA thriller revolves around a manipulative older man's toxic friendship with a group of college students. more
Big Kiss, Bye-ByeBy Claire-Louise Bennett (Riverhead)
Shoutout to my book club in the Hudson Valley, which, with its loosely defined focus on novels about isolation or retreat, has raised my antennas to such themes and caused me to move this one to the top of my stack. That and the fact that I loved Bennett’s bold bibliophilic Checkout 19. This one’s about a London writer’s move to the English countryside, where she revels in the setting's mind-clearing solitude. —David Varno, literary fiction reviews editor
Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac ShakurBy Jeff Pearlman (Mariner)
Pearlman paints a nuanced, detailed portrait of Tupac Shakur as a relentless, boundary-pushing artistic genius whose life was defined by contradictions (and whose legacy continues to be surrounded by mystery). It’s captivating stuff for casual listeners and diehard fans alike. —Miriam Grossman, religion and self-help reviews editor
By Tasha Suri (Orbit)
Suri's first standalone fantasy after sending out her jaw-droppingly good Burning Kingdoms series is set in a world where archetypal folkloric figures repeatedly reincarnate and live out the same destinies again and again, and it follows two doomed lovers determined to break free of their myth. As a sucker for stories about stories, this sapphic fantasy romance was right up my alley. —Phoebe Cramer, SFF, horror, and romance reviews editor
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1
Iron Flame (Wing and Claw ed.)
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2
Fourth Wing (Wing and Claw ed.)
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3
Alchemised
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4
The Secret of Secrets
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5
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6
Grim and Oro: Dueling Crowns Edition (a Lightlark Saga Deluxe Companion Book)
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7
Warriors Graphic Novel: The Prophecies Begin #3
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8
Twilight: Deluxe Collector's Edition (Special)
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9
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10
The Impossible Fortune: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery
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For more PW bestsellers lists, click here.
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