Six impressive novels you might have missed in 2024

One of the things I like best about having a blog is a platform to make people aware of good books that flew under the radar. Many of them are published by indie or university presses with a limited budget for marketing and publicity. Some just didn’t seem to get enough attention, at least as far as I could tell. Either way, I want to do my small part to tap readers of my blog on the shoulder and say, “Hey, you should check this book out. I think you’ll like it.”

Today I’m posting the first of two parts, featuring six books that were published in 2024 (in one case, republished). I’ll be sharing another half dozen books later this week.

In This Sign – Joanne Greenberg (Penguin Classics)

Joanne Greenberg is best known as the author of the semi-autobiographical teen classic, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, published in 1964. In This Sign was originally published in 1970 and was recently reissued by Penguin Classics. Running from the 1920s to the 1960s, it’s the story of a deaf couple and their hearing child and the ways in which they interact with the the hearing world, which they call “the Outside.” It was groundbreaking at the time, only a decade after American Sign Language was officially recognized. This edition is made even more relevant with a new introduction by Sara Nović, author of the novel True Biz (2022), about students at a school for the deaf in Ohio (it was a selection of Reese’s Book Club). She notes, “[I]f Greenberg has pulled back the curtain on the suffering of disabled people in an oppressive society, she has also given us the answer for how to overcome it. . . [T]his novel isn’t only one of deaf hardship, but also one of bravery and great joy.”

Sleeping Giants – Rene Denfeld (Harper)

Rene Denfeld has written four impressive novels in the last 10 years: The Enchanted, The Child Finder, The Butterfly Girl, and most recently, Sleeping Giants. A young woman, adopted as a baby, learns she has a younger brother who as a foster child ended up in a home for disturbed boys and died when he was only nine. A retired police officer, with his own similar background, helps her get to the truth of what happened. What they learn about the past and the present shocks them. Denfeld writes with insight and empathy born of her own experiences, including being an adoptive parent and working as a Public Defender investigator.

Black Butterflies – Priscilla Morris (Knopf)

It’s hard to believe the Bosnian War started more than 30 years ago. Serbia’s genocide of Bosnian and Croatian Muslims was a brutal reminder of the inhumanity that can arise from nationalism, especially when it has a religious component. The siege and destruction of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 1992-1996 was a particularly heartbreaking event. Black Butterflies puts readers in the heart of Sarajevo as Zora, an artist and teacher, and her neighbors try not just to survive but to have some kind of life while they wait for the end of what they think will be a short-lived war. The story is based in part on the life of Morris’s great-uncle, Dobrivoje Beljkašić. It’s a testament to the power of art and community in the midst of unimaginable violence and cruelty. Black Butterflies was shortlisted for the 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction (awarded to Demon Copperhead), as well as several other awards. It wasn’t published in the U.S. until August 2024 and has not received the attention it deserves. It’s a remarkable debut novel.

Sleeping in the Sun – Joanne Howard (SWP)

Joanne Howard’s debut novel, Sleeping in the Sun, is an exploration of colonialism, a coming of age story, and a page-turner. In the waning years of the British Raj, an American missionary family decides to stay on, running a boarding house on the outskirts of a town in Bengal. Sleeping in the Sun focuses on the friendship of Gene Hinton, the youngest of four brothers, and the family’s Indian servant, Arthur. Complications ensue when Uncle Ellis, a British judge, comes to stay with the family, far from his post in the Himalayan foothills. Gene and Arthur suspect there is more to the story than just a family visit. As secrets are discovered and tensions build, Arthur’s loyalty to a family that has treated him well is sorely tested. The Hintons are also forced to make a potentially life-changing decision.

Will End in Fire – Nicole Bokat (SWP)

When the family home burns down, leaving star athlete-turned-recovering addict Josh Stone in the hospital, clinging to life, his older sister Ellie has to face her own possible involvement. Will End in Fire is both a mystery/psychological suspense novel – how did the fire start and who could possibly want to harm Josh — and a literary character study. Bokat explores sibling rivalry, addiction and recovery, and how the past refuses to stay in the past (thanks in large part to social media). It’s a taut narrative that also probes the nature of the brother and sister’s complex relationship and the issue of who can be trusted.

Beware the Tall Grass – Ellen Birkett Morris (Columbus State University Press)

While Ellen Birkett Morris has published poetry (she was a finalist for the 2019 and 2020 Rita Dove Poetry Prize), short stories, and essays (in places like Newsweek and NPR), Beware the Tall Grass is her first novel. It won the Donald L. Jordan Literary Prize, judged by Lan Samantha Chang, director of the Iowa Writing Workshop and author of The Family Chao. Because she describes it so well, I will use Chang’s words instead of mine. “In this beautiful novel, two stories separated by half a century intertwine to create an indelible narrative of peace and war. Thomas joins the Army and travels to Vietnam, where he is propelled toward his fate. Decades later, in another time and place, Eve and Daniel welcome their infant son and resolve to set aside their family ghosts. Through surprising and suspenseful turns, Beware the Tall Grass explores the evocative mysteries of time and memory.” If you’re interested in the subject of inherited trauma (epigenetics), this is a must read.