It’s a hefty month but, what can we say? Our publishers just love releasing fantastic fiction, and this month is no exception. While the weather begins to pick up, it’s the time for readers to sit in the park with a juicy bit of text and a picnic, and we have just the books for you.

More Bugs by Em Reed
Knight Errant, 9781916665033, PB, £12.99, 1/6/2024

Dumped, broke and stranded at her mother’s house, Amy has few options for escape. Hanging out with her ex comes with getting to know his new girlfriend, someone who looks suspiciously like Amy’s younger, straighter doppelganger. Strapped for cash and desperate to be out of her mother’s home, she ends up babysitting the UFO-obsessed kids of the hot working mom down the street. Over a dull, torrid summer in the Pennsylvania suburbs, strange lights linger on the horizon, and subterranean connections reach out their tendrils in the dark, signalling another, otherworldly possibility. For fans of Jeanne Thornton’s The Dream of Doctor Bantam or Elif Batuman’s The Idiot.

Wafers by Seong-nan Ha, translated by Janet Hong
Open Letter, 9781948830980, PB, £16.99, 4/6/2024

This 2006 collection of short stories is in line with the unsettling, engrossing style of Ha’s other two collections that have been translated into English, the critical and commercial successes Flowers of Mold and Bluebeard’s First Wife. In Wafers, her third short story collection to appear in English, Ha continues to weave troublesome coincidences into the seemingly banal in her signature style of engrossing and unsettling prose. A best-seller in Korea, Ha Seong-nan is one of the stars of contemporary fiction, writing edgy, socially conscious stories that bring to mind the novels of Han Kang and the film Parasite.

Un Amor by Sara Mesa, translated by Kate Whittemore
Peirene Press, 9781908670977, PB, £12.99, 4/6/2024

An explosive, catastrophic story of desire and small-town unease in first UK publication from acclaimed Spanish author Sara Mesa. On the heels of a cryptic mistake, Nat arrives in the rural village of La Escapa. She rents a small house from a negligent landlord, adopts a dog and begins to work on her first literary translation. But nothing in La Escapa is easy: her dog is ill tempered and skittish, and mutual misunderstandings with her neighbours simmer below the surface. When conflict arises over repairs to her house, Nat receives an unusual offer — one that tests her sense of self and reveals her most unexpected desires. As Nat tries to understand her decision, the community of La Escapa comes together in search of a scapegoat.

Emily Forever by Maria Navarro Skaranger, translated by Martin Aitken
World Editions, 9781642861372, PB, £15.99, 4/6/2024

Em’s nineteen years old and pregnant. Her boyfriend Pablo has gone out ‘to take care of something’ and hasn’t returned. Her mother, who raised Emily alone, moves into the little apartment to help. Meanwhile, Em’s neighbour, who may or may not be a clergyman, wonders if it’s normal to be so infatuated with someone you’ve never spoken to. Em’s boss at the supermarket might have feelings for her too, if only she’d notice. Emily Forever is a poignant, achingly hard-hitting book about class and about digging deep to find what it takes to get by. At the same time, it’s a deeply original exploration of how a girl like Emily is seen from the outside, by those who think they know who she is and how her life is supposed to pan out. Empathetic and quizzical, and scathingly humorous, Emily Forever is a novel of unyielding solidarity and smouldering social dissent, by a new star of Scandinavian literature.

Supplication by Nour Abi-Nakhoul
Influx Press, 9781910312650, PB, £10.99, 6/6/2024

A hallucinatory literary horror set deep in the consciousness of a woman exploring a changed and frightening world. An unnamed narrator comes to in a basement, tied to a chair, a man looming over her. Someone has a knife. She emerges from her captivity into a mysterious and nightmarish city, searching for meaning in her new reality. As figures emerge from the night, some offering sanctuary, and others judgement, she moves through a fever-dream narrative of alienation, fear, and the quest for respite. Nour Abi-Nakhoul’s powerful debut novel, Supplication, is a hallucinatory literary horror set deep in the consciousness of a woman exploring a changed and frightening world.

Mother Naked by Glen James Brown
Peninsula Press, 9781913512484, PB, £10.99, 6/6/2024

The City of Durham, 1434. Out of a storm, an aging minstrel arrives at the cathedral to entertain the city’s most powerful men. Mother Naked is his name, and the story he’s come to tell is the Legend of the Fell Wraith: the gruesome ‘walking ghost’ some say slaughtered the nearby village of Segerston forty years earlier. But is this monster only a myth, born from the dim minds of toiling peasants? Or does the Wraith—and the murders—have roots in real events suffered by those fated to a lifetime of labour? As Mother Naked weaves the strands of the mystery—of class, religion, art and ale—the chilling truth might be closer to his privileged audience than they could ever imagine. Taking its inspiration from a single payment entered into Durham’s Cathedral rolls, ‘Modyr Nakett’ was the lowest-paid performer in over 200 years of records. Set against the traumatic shadow of the Black Death and the Peasant’s Revolt, Mother Naked speaks back from the margins, in a fury of imaginative recuperation.

Boy with a Black Rooster by Stefanie Vor Schulte, translated by Alex Roesch
The Indigo Press, 9781911648772, PB, £12.99, 6/6/2024

Eleven-year-old Martin has nothing but the shirt on his back, and a black rooster which is both a protector and a friend. The villagers steer clear of the boy, finding him strange; far too smart and kind. They would rather mistreat him than acknowledge his talents. When Martin meets a travelling painter and seizes the chance to leave the village with him, he is led into a terrible world which, thanks to his compassion and understanding, he is able to resist, becoming a saviour for those even more innocent than he is. An eleven-year-old boy with all the wisdom of the world shows us that with common sense, courage and a pure heart, we can change the world.

Rina by Yong-sook Kang, translated by Kim Boram
Open Letter, 9781960385086, PB, £15.99, 11/6/2024

Rina is a defector from a country that might be North Korea, traversing an ’empty and futile’ landscape. Along the way, she is forced to work at a chemical plant, murders a few people, becomes a prostitute, runs a lucrative bar, and finds a solace in a motley family of wanderers all as disenfranchised as she. Brutal and unflinching, with elements of the mythic and grotesque interspersed with hard-edged realism, Rina is a pioneering work of Korean postmodernism.

The Helper by M. M. Dewil
Blackstone Publishing, 9798874676100, PB, £14.99, 18/6/2024

A biting cinematic debut thriller from a highly acclaimed Hollywood director.

Mary Williams — faced with unexpectedly losing her job and the possibility of losing custody of her daughter as well — answers an unusual help wanted ad. When an ailing man offers her an outrageous proposal that could solve all her problems, Mary takes fate into her own hands and accepts, agreeing to the extraordinary thing this man is asking. It’s a decision that changes everything. Because what Mary thought was true is in fact a lie, and now she faces a new reality that is far more disastrous than anything she could have imagined. Relentless and propulsive, The Helper is a compulsive page-turner fuelled by lies, deceit, and revenge. Punctuated with biting wit and satirical social commentary, Dewil’s debut gives us a peek behind the lie that was once the American dream and explores the story of one woman struggling for footing in the modern world. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Push.

Hot Stage by Anita Nair
Bitter Lemon Press, 9781913394967, PB, £9.99, 20/6/2024

The thrilling third murder mystery in the invigorating Inspector Gowda series.

Borei Gowda is a splendidly grumpy, hard-drinking cop, an Indian Rebus with a complicated love life. When Professor Mudgood is found dead in his decaying Bangalore house, it is considered a natural death; after all, he was 82 years old, but Gowda isn’t so sure. All the evidence points to a political murder since the professor was a fervent critic of right-wing forces in India. But as Gowda launches a parallel investigation, he stumbles upon a secret and murky world where there are no rules or mercy. When Gowda’s hand is forced, he takes a calculated risk and infiltrates the sinister domain to bring the truth out into the open. Will he succeed? And at what price?

Perfect Little Angels by Vincent Anioke
Arsenal Pulp Press, 9781551529431, PB, £20.99, 20/6/2024

In this stunning debut story collection set largely in Nigeria, questions abound: What happens when we fall short of society’s — and our own—expectations? When our personal desires conflict with the duties we are bound with? The characters in Perfect Little Angels confront these dilemmas and more in these brilliantly imagined tales. In a boarding school, tensions brew between students and vengeful staff. An addict seeks a fresh start in pottery class. A man returns home from university abroad with confessions that unravel his mother’s world. Amid winter storms, a ghost delights a grief-stricken partner. And atop a hill surrounded by rot and garbage, two lovers dare to embark on a secret, dangerous romance. Human desires — for connection, salvation, and understanding — imbue these deeply Nigerian stories with universal resonance. In Vincent Anioke’s tenderly written stories, characters seek love in different permutations from teachers, parents, dead partners, and even God. Perfect Little Angels is a nuanced exploration of masculinity, religion, marginalization, suppressed queerness, and self-expression through the lens of (un)conditional love.

The Bedlam Cadaver by Robert J. Lloyd
Melville House Publishing, 9781685890957, PB, £12.99, 20/6/2024

The third Hunt & Hooke novel, following on from The Bloodless Boy and The Poison Machine.

1680: London cooks in summer heat. Protestors light bonfires and riot, angry that James, the Duke of York — who is openly Catholic — will succeed his brother as King. When violent men kidnap and murder a rich merchant’s daughter — even though her ransom was paid — King Charles II orders Harry Hunt of the Royal Society to help investigate. Harry has proved his worth before. A second woman goes missing: Elizabeth Thynne, England’s richest heiress. Her husband receives a ransom letter from the same kidnappers. He is a close friend of the King’s son, the Duke of Monmouth. Monmouth is Protestant and popular, preferred by most to succeed his father despite his illegitimacy. Under pressure from powerful men to find the killers and rescue Elizabeth, Harry uncovers a disturbing link to Bethlehem Hospital, better known as ‘Bedlam.’ But he is falsely accused of the crimes. Desperate to prove his innocence — and to find the real culprits — his search takes him from Rotherhithe to Whitehall Palace and to the house of the famous portrait painter, Sir Peter Lely, in Covent Garden. And back to Bedlam again. By its end, Harry holds the Monarchy’s future in his hands.

We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed
ECW Press, 9781770417335, PB, £14.99, 27/6/2024

The enlivening follow-up to the award-winning sensation The Annual Migration of Clouds.

Travelling alone through the climate-crisis-ravaged wilds of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, 19-year-old Reid Graham battles the elements and her lifelong chronic illness to reach the utopia of Howse University. But life in one of the storied ‘domes’ — the last remnants of pre-collapse society — isn’t what she expected. Reid tries to excel in her classes and make connections with other students but still grapples with guilt over what happened just before she left her community. And as she learns more about life at Howse, she begins to realise she can’t stand idly by as the people of the dome purposely withhold needed resources from the rest of humanity. When the worst of news comes from back home, Reid must make a choice between herself, her family, and the broken new world. In this powerful follow-up to her award-winning novella The Annual Migration of Clouds, Premee Mohamed is at the top of her game as she explores the conflicts and complexities of this post-apocalyptic society and asks whether humanity is doomed to forever recreate its own worst mistakes. For fans of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

Deliver Me by Elle Nash
Verve Books, 9780857308610, PB, 9.99, 27/6/2024

At a meatpacking facility in Missouri, Dee-Dee and her coworkers kill and butcher 40,000 chickens in a single shift. The work is repetitive and brutal, with each stab and cut a punishment to her hands and joints, but Dee-Dee’s more concerned with what is happening inside her body. After a series of devastating miscarriages, Dee-Dee has found herself pregnant, and she is determined to carry this child to term. Dee-Dee fled the Pentecostal church years ago, but judgement follows her in the form of regular calls from her mother, whose raspy voice urges her to quit living in sin and marry her boyfriend, Daddy, an underemployed ex-con with an insect fetish. With a child on the way, at long last Dee-Dee can bask in her mother and boyfriend’s newfound attention. She will matter. She will be loved. She will be complete. When her charismatic friend Sloane reappears after a twenty-year absence, feeding her insecurities and awakening suppressed desires, Dee-Dee fears she will go back to living in the shadows. Neither the ultimate indignity of yet another miscarriage nor Sloane’s own pregnancy deters her: she must prepare for the baby’s arrival.

Beloved by Empar Moliner, translated by Laura McGloughlin
3TimesRebel Press, 9781739128753, PB, £14.99, 29/08/2024

Remei is a prestigious illustrator in her fifties who considers herself an attractive, happily married mother. Yet one evening, sitting in the back seat of the family car, she clearly predicts that her younger husband, a principal violinist in an orchestra, will fall in love with the second violinist, the woman sitting beside him, as they head to their home to rehearse. Neither Remei’s husband nor the young woman have realised this yet. But Remei has. This devastating certainty leads Remei, a determined woman who since childhood has had to fight to survive, to a harsh realisation of what it is to grow old inside. She must suddenly accept the vulnerability of marital love, the addictive dependence of motherhood, and the expiration date on her artistic career. We experience the progressive emotional and physiological transformation of a mature woman who fights against age, a woman that when she goes jogging, has a constant inner monologue in which she welcomes us into her intimate and confessable space. We go from laughter to the sharpness that lays bare the pathetic side of life, to the point of leaving us feeling like stone statues, facing a story that unfolds with coldness and determination when it comes to recreating the anguish generated by the few alternatives that the protagonist has left. Empar Moliner makes fiction out of the purest reality: the ease with which the most stable and consolidated life can be shaken. After all, even the greatest stability hangs by a very fragile and almost invisible thread.

Mrs Jekyll by Emma Glass
Cheerio Publishing Ltd, 9781739440565, HB, £16.99, 27/6/2024

Atmospheric and lusciously told, Mrs Jekyll reframes Stevenson’s classic story of human duality in the present day, as one woman contends with a terminal diagnosis — and unearths the effervescence of a life suppressed. Schoolteacher Rosy Winter is dying. But, beyond the homeopathic remedies, the dinner party obligations, the snatched whispers on wards and in staffrooms, a force — murderous, feminine, feverish — is stirring within her. A story of power and powerlessness, light and dark, life and death, Mrs Jekyll embraces the paradoxes and paroxysms of modern womanhood, in a story every bit as gripping as the original.

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
Dead Ink, 9781915368645, PB, £10.99, 27/6/2024

Frankenstein meets Pet Sematary in this harrowing tale of family, love, and loss.

Grieving mother Magos cuts out a piece of her deceased eleven-year-old son Santiago’s lung. Acting on fierce maternal instinct and the dubious logic of an old folktale, she nurtures the lung until it gains sentience, growing into the carnivorous little Monstrilio she keeps hidden within the walls of her family’s decaying Mexico City estate. Eventually, Monstrilio begins to resemble the Santiago he once was, but his innate impulses — though curbed by his biological and chosen family’s communal care — threaten to destroy this fragile second chance at life. A thought-provoking meditation on grief, acceptance, and the monstrous sides of love and loyalty, Gerardo Sámano Córdova blends bold imagination and evocative prose with deep emotional rigour. Told in four acts that span the globe from Mexico to Brooklyn to Berlin, Monstrilio offers, with uncanny clarity, a cathartic and precise portrait of being human.