Happy’s 52 Best New Books of 2021
Looking for fresh inspiration? These are the best new books – from Australia and around the world – that you can get your hands on in 2021!
Zoë Playdon – The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes
In this remarkable investigation, Zoë Playdon sheds light on a landmark case that would go on to shape the transgender experience, decades on from its conclusion. Ewan Forbes, born to an aristocratic family in Scotland, underwent a successful transition process. Yet when he was set to inherit the family baronetcy, a court case threatened to derail the rightful succession. With this extraordinary story at its core, Playdon explains how the wider implications of this deliberately obscured case changed the course of transgender rights for decades.
9.6
BUY HERE
ZOË PLAYDON
THE HIDDEN CASE OF EWAN FORBES
Ann Patchett – These Precious Days
From the acclaimed author of the six novels, Ann Patchett has penned a new collection of thought-provoking essays in These Precious Days. An expansive insight into the substance of life — relationships, ambitions, failure, and more — it’s brimming with Patchett’s talent for telling stories with unflinching candour and making them effortlessly resonate with the reader.
9.6
BUY HERE
ANN PATCHETT
THESE PRECIOUS DAYS
Claire Oshetsky – Chouette
There are many stories that address the myriad themes of motherhood, but it would be hard to find one that did it in such an utterly original way as Chouette. Drawing on her own experiences of mothering non-conforming children, Oshetsky weaves a contemporary fable so affecting, yet brimming with humour and life, that you’ll probably tear through it in one sitting.
9.7
BUY HERE
CLAIRE OSHETSKY
CHOUETTE
Saša Stanišić – Where You Come From
In Where You Come From, Saša Stanišić takes a playful approach — experimenting with form and perspective — while delivering an emotional gut-punch. While it deals in the real-life locations of the former Yugoslavia and Germany, it also reads like a dream, which is appropriate as it deals with memory and the effects of trauma. An exhilarating read from a supreme talent.
9.6
BUY HERE
SAŠA STANIŠIĆ
WHERE YOU COME FROM
Noel Pearson – Mission
Mission recounts some of the highlights of Noel Pearson’s political life, for example, his call for Indigenous recognition, and the memories of leaders he worked with over the decades. Lawyer, academic, and evocative writer, Mission presents a broad spectrum of compelling argument and analysis, as well as contemplative reflections on his life so far.
9.5
BUY HERE
NOEL PEARSON
MISSION
Zadie Smith – The Wife of Willesden
There are not too many authors who would be able to update Chaucer for the 21st century, let alone inject it with such contemporary verve and humour. But Zadie Smith makes it look easy. She fell into this commission by accident, sort of (read the introduction), but this stage-writing debut from the acclaimed author — which works strictly in the Chaucerian form of couplets derived from 10-syllable lines — reads like a work that she was always meant to write.
9.5
BUY HERE
ZADIE SMITH
THE WIFE OF WILLESDEN
Bernardine Evaristo – Manifesto
Winning the Booker Prize 2019 thrust British author Bernardine Evaristo into the spotlight on a global scale. Manifesto is the memoir of the decades of work that led to that pivotal moment: the first Booker Prize win for a Black woman. From the pen of a champion of untold stories, it forms a brilliant contemporary commentary, as well as an inspirational text for anyone who values creativity.
9.5
BUY HERE
BERNARDINE EVARISTO
MANIFESTO
Eric Willmot – Pemulwuy: The Rainbow Warrior
Based on the period that began with the arrival of the First Fleet and finished in 1802, Pemulwuy chronicles the story of the Bidjigal man and fearsome Aboriginal warrior and how he led the fight against the British invaders in the early years of the colony. A remarkable story and fascinating historical account, it’s an essential read for people who seek a more comprehensive truth about the birth of modern Australia.
9.5
BUY HERE
ERIC WILLMOT
PEMULWUY: THE RAINBOW WARRIOR
Emily Ratajkowski – My Body
A searing and profound analysis of the intersections of feminism, power, and the commodification of the female body lies at the heart of Ratajkowski’s new book. While it does have autobiographical elements, it also takes a broader view of a culture problematic relationship with female beauty and sexuality. It comes hot on the heels of her recent piece for New York magazine, Buying Myself Back — which exploded online and understandably created much anticipation for this full-length literary debut.
9.5
BUY HERE
EMILY RATAJKOWSKI
MY BODY
Paul McCartney – The Lyrics
As you might imagine, the autobiography requests of one of the most famous people in history are plenty. But Paul McCartney is a songwriter and they are his diary entries. So in lieu of a conventional chronology, the story of Paul McCartney is told through a selection of 154 of his songs, that range from his pre-Beatles days to the present.
A massive twin-volume set contains the lyrics themselves, painstakingly documented photography and handwritten notes, as well as the stories behind the songs — formed by countless hours of conversation between McCartney and the book’s editor Paul Muldoon. The result is a unique artefact and unparalleled insight into one of the most influential musicians in history.
9.7
BUY HERE
PAUL McCARTNEY
THE LYRICS
Olga Tokarczuk – The Books of Jacob
Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk has made an incredible return with The Books of Jacob. The ambition of this novel is striking, its narrative structure complex as we trace the tale of the divisive figure of Jacob Frank — a real-life religious chameleon who exerts a terrifying power over his disciples. A demanding, yet breathtaking read, told from a range of perspectives.
9.4
BUY HERE
OLGA TOKARCZUK
THE BOOKS OF JACOB
Various authors – Everything, All At Once
Everything, All At Once gathers no less than 30 of Australia’s finest young authors. Encompassing a broad collection of short stories and poetry — all winning entries of the Ultimo Prize – it’s an electrifying collective display of talent from a diversity of next-gen writers from across Australia. With literally dozens of entries to dive into (each has a short biographical accompaniment), there’s only one way to absorb this brilliant volume: by taking in Everything, All At Once.
9.5
VARIOUS AUTHORS
EVERYTHING, ALL AT ONCE
David Sedaris – A Carnival of Snackery
The Sedaris style is a difficult one made to look easy. How can a person’s observations on the broadest possible range of topics, from the banal to world-changing, be so goddamn funny? Spanning much of the last two decades, A Carnival of Snackery sees Sedaris in full flight, bouncing from pinpoint observations of single people, to broader bemusement at the state of the world. As with all Sedaris volumes, it’s curiously life-affirming, but still with a healthy amount of snark, and sharp as a razor.
9.6
BUY HERE
DAVID SEDARIS
A CARNIVAL OF SNACKERY
Michelle de Kretser – Scary Monsters
Scary Monsters is the thrilling and thought-provoking return of the acclaimed Sri Lankan-Australian author, Michelle de Kretser. Grappling with the larger themes of racism, misogyny and ageism, time is also warped in this unsettling two-part tale: the tale of Lili is told in the ’80s, while the story of Lyle lies somewhere in the near future. A radically original and unexpectedly funny meditation on how the past can dramatically alter our trajectory.
9.5
BUY HERE
MICHELLE DE KRETSER
SCARY MONSTERS
Kelefa Sanneh – Major Labels
While it’s an obvious choice for the music fan in your life, the threads of history and culture that Kelefa Sanneh (renowned music critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker) effortlessly weaves into this sweeping account of popular music through seven key genres is masterful — and apt for anyone to appreciate. Ambitious yet gracefully executed, you can’t help but completely reexamine your own relationship with popular music in light of the many revelations that lie in between the covers of Major Labels.
9.7
BUY HERE
KELEFA SANNEH
MAJOR LABELS
Kwon Yeo-sun – Lemon
From award-winning Korean author Kwon Yeo-sun, Lemon is an atmospheric crime novel that addresses wealth, privilege, grief, and the power to take matters into one’s own hands. After the teenager, Kim Hae-on was murdered in 2002, the case went cold. Many years later, her sister Da-on is unable to move on and attempts to discover the truth in her own way. A disconcerting yet powerful narrative unfolds.
9.4
BUY HERE
KWON YEO-SUN
LEMON
Colson Whitehead – Harlem Shuffle
Dual Pulitzer Prize-winner and master of historically based fiction Colson Whitehead has returned with Harlem Shuffle. This time, Whitehead invites readers into this famed pocket of New York City in the 1960s, introducing us to Ray Carney. One on hand, he’s a respectable pillar of the community and family man. On the other, he dabbles in the disreputable ‘industries’ of the neighbourhood to keep his head above water. As always with Colson Whitehead, a faraway world is rendered with vivid detail and beauty.
9.6
BUY HERE
COLSON WHITEHEAD
HARLEM SHUFFLE
Fran Lebowitz – The Fran Lebowitz Reader
No one has cut a trail through the cultural life of New York like Fran Lebowitz. For the past 50 years, she’s observed various phenomena of existence through the lens of the metropolis, but her expert commentary on what makes us tick isn’t contained by city blocks. The Fran Lebowitz Reader is the definitive collection of her essays, dished up with irreverence, insight, and probably the most hilarious writing that’s ever been committed to the page.
9.4
BUY HERE
FRAN LEBOWITZ
THE FRAN LEBOWITZ READER
Colm Toíbín – The Magician
A feat of extensive research, Colm Toíbín brings the tale of Thomas Mann to life. Thomas Mann was a towering literary figure of the 20th century and Toíbín’s fictional rendering of his personal adds a multitude of layers to our imagining of this significant historical figure. It spans a devastating period in German history and portrays the inner conflicts of Mann as he navigates his own art, family life, and the turbulence of the world around him.
9.5
BUY HERE
COLM TOÍBÍN
THE MAGICIAN
Bronwyn Adcock – Currowan
Currowan is Bronwyn Adcock’s devastating account of being inside the inferno of Australia’s Black Summer. All too often — even though this disaster surrounded us — we don’t have the opportunity to absorb the human stories of this significant event. Adcock’s recounting of the Currowan blaze brings the visceral reality of the fire to the page and importantly, asks vital questions about the human error and negligence that contributed to the devastation.
9.4
BUY HERE
BRONWYN ADCOCK
CURROWAN
Amia Srinivasan – The Right to Sex
In the wake of #MeToo, it’s understandable to search for a reductionist conclusion on the topic of sex. While consent is an essential part of the discourse, Amia Srinivasan’s The Right to Sex explodes the conversation, considering sex at the intersection of multiple political and cultural relationships. Confronting and refreshing, it’s an essential read from one of today’s most original thinkers.
9.7
BUY HERE
AMIA SRINIVASAN
THE RIGHT TO SEX
Yves Rees – All About Yves
In their memoir, Yves Rees tells us, “I’d been alive for thirty years. In all that time I’d never allowed myself to consider that the term ‘woman’ might not apply to me.” In All About Yves, the award-winning author and historian details their journey of transition with incredible personal insights. Through this awakening, readers are challenged to examine the depth of their own empathy and question assumptions they had about their own existence.
9.3
BUY HERE
YVES REES
ALL ABOUT YVES
Sally Rooney – Beautiful World, Where Are You
‘Highly anticipated’ has never been more of an understatement. In some ways, Beautiful World, Where Are You traverses familiar Sally Rooney terrain, but of course, the added unignorable dimension in the new tale is the celebrity status of the author herself. But readers will be thankful — the style, the innate virtuosic ear for dialogue, the sexual frisson that continually bubbles between characters (in this case, two couples), as well as the backdrop of broader political tensions which are hallmarks of Rooney’s writing — are all alive in this book.
9.1
BUY HERE
SALLY ROONEY
BEAUTIFUL WORLD, WHERE ARE YOU
Kill Your Darlings – New Australian Fiction 2021
A decade into its life, Kill Your Darlings has established itself as a vital voice in the Australian literary scene and specialises in championing local talent. In this cracking anthology, the KYD team has assembled 16 works of fiction from more than 500 entries following a nation-wide call-out. Together, it forms a kaleidoscopic view of a world forever altered by technology, climate change, the battle for First Nations recognition and of course, the pandemic.
9.4
BUY HERE
KILL YOUR DARLINGS
NEW AUSTRALIAN FICTION 2021
Karen Jennings – An Island
This compact novel from the South African author Karen Jennings has been long-listed for the Booker Prize this year. Its powerful critique of colonialism is rendered through the tale of Samuel, an exiled lighthouse keeper. When a refugee lands on his remote island, everything that Samuel — now an old man — sought to escape comes rushing back into his life.
9.3
BUY HERE
KAREN JENNINGS
AN ISLAND
Tilly Lawless – Nothing But My Body
Effortlessly, Tilly Lawless draws you into her world. You pick up the thread of the unnamed narrator on page one and you dare not let go until the end — the conversational prose that spills from the mind of Lawless is addictive, her observations of the sex work industry, her colleagues, her clients, are insightful. Set in the context of tumultuous contemporary Australian events, it’s a profound, lyrical journey into the true nature of human relationships.
9.5
BUY HERE
TILLY LAWLESS
NOTHING BUT MY BODY
Tanya Pearson – Why Marianne Faithfull Matters
Though Marianne Faithfull has been an innovative creator across multiple genres for decades, it could be argued that her impact has been underestimated. Emerging at the same time as the leading lights of the British Invasion, she’s transcended the tag but failed to garner the same recognition as her male contemporaries. Pearson’s account of this icon’s career takes a feminist approach, while comprehensively detailing her subversive significance as an artist who effortlessly straddles generations.
9.3
BUY HERE
TANYA PEARSON
WHY MARIANNE FAITHFULL MATTERS
Raphaela Edelbauer – The Liquid Land
The Liquid Land is a tale that nods to the traditions of magical realism while also exploring the threat of a very real past. On one level, it deals with a practical problem that falls to the protagonist, Ruth. But in searching for the solution — a town that has written itself off the map — she uncovers a looming danger that threatens to engulf the place. An intoxicating adventure unfolds from this unique premise.
9.1
BUY HERE
RAPHAELA EDELBAUER
THE LIQUID LAND
Leïla Slimani – The Country of Others
The struggle to be free is explored through multiple prisms in Leïla Slimani’s new novel, The Country of Others. France’s liberation from Nazi occupation means Mathilde can join her husband in Morocco. But that country’s hunger for independence (from erstwhile occupied France) also permeates the lives of the reunited couple. Poignantly, Mathilde’s own oppression, her relegation to domestic duties, is also vividly portrayed. A powerful story set against the real-life turbulence of the mid-20th century.
9.4
BUY HERE
LEÏLA SLIMANI
THE COUNTRY OF OTHERS
Nikki Gemmell – Dissolve
International best-seller Nikki Gemmell has 13 novels and 4 non-fiction works and Dissolve, in some ways, reads like a reflection of her decades of artistic practice. But its focus on female creativity in the shadows of male dominance and its second-person perspective injects it with a narrative potency that transcends memoir, making it a direct and at times pointedly uncomfortable conversation with the reader. Confronting and exhilarating.
9.3
BUY HERE
NIKKI GEMMELL
DISSOLVE
Sebastião Salgado – Amazônia
Amazônia is the culmination of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado’s six-year odyssey in the world’s largest rainforest. In stunning black and white landscapes and portraits, Salgado captures all the drama and contrast of the Amazon and its native inhabitants. A powerful monument to the rapidly changing environment and a reminder of its powerful presence.
9.3
BUY HERE
SEBASTIÃO SALGADO
AMAZÔNIA
Anuk Arudpragasam – A Passage North
The second novel in an already glittering career, A Passage North has already landed on the longlist for the 2021 Booker Prize. Set against the memory of the civil war that has ravaged Sri Lanka for decades, it ostensibly deals with a single death. Yet, as the protagonist Krishan embarks on a long journey north, it asks more profound questions about how we can shape our future lives.
9.5
BUY HERE
ANUK ARUDPRAGASAM
A PASSAGE NORTH
Jeanette Winterson – 12 Bytes
12 Bytes: How We Got Here. Where We Might Go Next is Jeanette Winterson’s provocative collection of essays that address the impact of artificial intelligence on our lives. Viewing this scientific evolution through the prisms of love, sex, politics, gender, and religion, the book forms a comprehensive analysis of AI, and challenges us to imagine a future where it is even more intertwined with humanity.
9.2
BUY HERE
JEANETTE WINTERSON
12 BYTES
Anton Corbijn – DMAC
In this new photographic wonder, two pillars of music and its surrounding artistic culture come together. Depeche Mode is a seminal act, with its roots in ’80s electronica and the brooding side of synth-pop. Anton Corbijn is the celebrated Dutch rock photographer, whose images spanning decades have become individual cultural artefacts in their own right. This book is a comprehensive account of their extensive collaboration, complete with an interview with Corbijn and more than 500 images from his personal archive.
9.1
BUY HERE
ANTON CORBIJN
DMAC
Vincent Namatjira – Albert Namatjira
In this compelling children’s book from Magabala, the story of the historically significant artist, Albert Namatjira, is told by his great-grandson, Vincent Namatjira. Filled with Vincent’s paintings, which are brimming with the unique style and humour of the Archibald Prize-winner, it captures the essence of Albert’s life and an era of cultural transition. A landmark document of Australian art history and a catalyst for exploring the Aboriginal Rights movement.
9.4
BUY HERE
VINCENT NAMATJIRA
ALBERT NAMATJIRA
Mieko Kawakami – Heaven
Reading accounts of bullying (even fictional ones) are always confronting. It triggers a mixture of terror, anger, and sadness — a dumbfounding realisation of the fundamental unfairness of the world. But what if a new, nourishing bond is born out of that misery? This is the question at the heart of Heaven.
Heaven was first published in 2009, but following the success of last year’s Breasts and Eggs, this shorter novel was translated into English. And like Breasts and Eggs, it tempers traumatic events with moments of contemplation, especially in the extended dialogue between the protagonist and his lifeline to the outside world, Kojima. A powerful story that serves to solidify Kawakami’s status as a literary force.
9.5
BUY HERE
MIEKO KAWAKAMI
HEAVEN
Mateo Askaripour – Black Buck
Black Buck is a modern comment on the cult of the office, with all its attendant pressures and ambition. It does, however, view it through the lens of race relations in America. It follows Buck, a killer in sales and the only Black employee in his company. After finding that the trappings of success just aren’t enough, he plans an extracurricular mission: to bring people of colour into the game.
9.1
BUY HERE
MATEO ASKARIPOUR
BLACK BUCK
Rachel Cusk – Second Place
Rachel Cusk, the author of the critically acclaimed Outline trilogy returns with a new novel, Second Place: an intense study of the singular nature of human relationships from one of its most skilled and nuanced observers. Notions of freedom, the power of art to define lives, and a fraught relationship between the protagonist and her obsession are explored with characteristic Cusk insight.
9.2
BUY HERE
RACHEL CUSK
SECOND PLACE
Sebastian Dobson and Sabine Arqué – Japan 1900
While colonial maps were being redrawn and the norms of international trade were being established, Japan was effectively cut off from the world. But in the Restoration period, which began in 1868, the nation was catapulted into modernity. Japan 1900 is a seminal document of this pivotal era, a stunning volume of photographs that capture the transformation of this intoxicating part of the world.
9.2
BUY HERE
SEBASTIAN DOBSON AND SABINE ARQUÉ
JAPAN 1900
Michael Dobbs – King Richard
Those who thought controversial presidencies began and ended with Donald Trump or even George W. Bush — Michael Dobbs has a story to tell you. In the 1972 election, incumbent president, Richard Nixon, was voted in by a landslide. But within a few months, the office that he’d relentlessly fought for was in a shambles. Following the recent release of thousands of hours of Nixon’s White House tapes, Dobbs’ thrilling volume takes readers into the heart of the conspiracy that was the ultimate undoing of King Richard.
8.9
BUY HERE
MICHAEL DOBBS
KING RICHARD
Bri Lee – Who Gets to be Smart
From the author of Eggshell Skull — an unflinching personal account of a journey in the Australian legal system — comes an equally provocative exposé. Who Gets to be Smart interrogates the elitism that pervades education, shedding light on a system that entrenches intergenerational class boundaries. The institutions that have the power to shape the future for many young people are called to account by one of Australia’s most gifted young writers.
9.3
BUY HERE
BRI LEE
WHO GETS TO BE SMART
Zakiya Dalila Harris – The Other Black Girl
This addictive debut from Zakiya Dalila Harris combines the sensibilities of a thriller with a drily comic office atmosphere. It’s testament to Harris’s skill that she can also effortlessly cut across the narrative with an incisive statement on the dearth of Black representation in the world of publishing. The Other Black Girl is perhaps the buzziest new book in recent months — a refreshing and strikingly original multigenre tale.
9.2
BUY HERE
ZAKIYA DALILA HARRIS
THE OTHER BLACK GIRL
Sheldon Pearce – Changes
For an artist whose life was so violently cut short, the immensity of Tupac Shakur’s influence is impossible to gauge. As if his immortalisation was not complete, his voice again rose to prominence as Changes became an anthem of the 2020 protests that were catalysed by the murder of George Floyd. 50 years on from his birth and 25 years after his death, The New Yorker’s Sheldon Pearce has compiled an unprecedented oral history of the rap icon, featuring rare interviews with people who collectively made a significant impact on his life and career.
9.2
BUY HERE
SHELDON PEARCE
CHANGES
Adam Andrusier – Two Hitlers and a Marilyn
Two Hitlers and a Marilyn tells the story of Adam Andrusier and his life-long obsession with autographs. As a child, any escape from the soporific surrounds of the suburbs was highly prized. As such, Andrusier pursued exotic with a passion, hunting autographs from any famous person he could think of. Effortlessly told, it’s a tale that spans the heartfelt and the hilarious.
9.0
BUY HERE
ADAM ANDRUSIER
TWO HITLERS AND A MARILYN
Emily Austin – Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead
Story setups don’t come any more tantalising than this one. Through a series of miscommunications, a young, atheist lesbian called Gilda lands a job at the neighbourhood Catholic church. Adding further to the complications, the previous occupier of the receptionist job has died, and Gilda promptly becomes morbidly fascinated by the circumstances surrounding her death. If you like your comedy on the darker side, you’ll have many a laugh with this sharply observant novel.
9.3
BUY HERE
EMILY AUSTIN
EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WILL SOMEDAY BE DEAD
Jennifer Otter Bickerdike – You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone
Nico has often been misconstrued, written off as simply a ‘muse’ for the male artistic visionaries in her sphere. This new comprehensive biography skewers the lazy labelling and presents Nico as an artist in all her complexity. Already lauded by contemporaries like Iggy Pop, You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone is a masterful account of Nico’s artistry and ongoing influence.
9.1
BUY HERE
JENNIFER OTTER BICKERDIKE
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE ALONE
Alice Pung – One Hundred Days
One Hundred Days marks the return of the award-winning Australian author, Alice Pung. It follows the tale of Karuna, a 16-year-old girl, who falls pregnant. Now under lock and key — and under the watch of her domineering mother — One Hundred Days is a study of tension within a relationship and the sometimes delicate balance between care and coercion.
9.2
BUY HERE
ALICE PUNG
ONE HUNDRED DAYS
Edited by Andrew Dodd and Matthew Ricketson – Upheaval: Disrupted Lives in Journalism
You’d have to have been hiding under a pretty sizeable rock not to notice the shift in the traditional media landscape, especially in the field of journalism. But if you’ve only grown up in an age post-internet, perhaps it’s less apparent. Upheaval collates the stories of more than 50 Aussie journos who have witnessed the dwindling of newsrooms over time first-hand and felt the repercussions.
9.0
BUY HERE
EDITED BY ANDREW DODD AND MATTHEW RICKETSON
UPHEAVAL: DISRUPTED LIVES IN JOURNALISM
Alex McElroy – The Atmospherians
Wellness and wokeness are catchphrases of the zeitgeist and concepts that Alex McElroy hilariously skewers in The Atmospherians. It traces the tale of Sasha, an internet sensation who falls victim to cancellation. A life raft in the form is offered by ‘The Atmosphere’, an idyllic environment where men are cleansed of toxic masculinity; she is to become the face of the community. An enthralling contemporary black comedy.
8.9
BUY HERE
ALEX MCELROY
THE ATMOSPHERIANS
Richard Flanagan – Toxic
Yes, it’s that Richard Flanagan. The Booker-prize winning author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North cares deeply about his native Tasmania. And for decades, one of the state’s chiefest exports has been salmon, with the industry trading on the island’s pristine wilderness. Flanagan’s damning exposé, however, puts pay to this toxic myth.
9.1
BUY HERE
RICHARD FLANAGAN
TOXIC
Akwaeke Emezi – Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir
From the author of Death of Vivek Oji and Pet comes one of the most anticipated memoirs of the year. Delivered in epistolatory form, it has already garnered the praise of contemporary luminaries, such as Roxane Gay. Straddling the world of the divine and the earthly, Dear Senthuran marks an unforgettable non-fiction debut from this acclaimed author. And though it ostensibly addresses questions of identity, it reveals so much more.
9.4
BUY HERE
AKWAEKE EMEZI
DEAR SENTHURAN: A BLACK SPIRIT MEMOIR
Irvin D. Yalom and Marilyn Yalom – A Matter of Death and Life
Irvin Yalom is a psychiatrist, accustomed to supporting patients through the darkest periods in their lives. When his wife, the acclaimed author Marilyn Yalom was diagnosed with cancer, his therapeutic instincts had to be turned inward. In this heartbreaking memoir, the couple provides their own accounts of Marilyn’s final days. If you’re in the mood for pondering the essence of love and what it means to grieve, this should be at the top of your list.
9.1
BUY HERE
