Paperbacks to Look Out For in May 2026: Part Two

Back from my travels (more of which later in the week) with the second instalment of May’s paperback preview which kicks off with a book from one of the most inventive British authors I know although I’m pretty sure Helen Oyeyemi’ A New New Me will be a Marmite novel, rather like Parasol Against the Axe which I loved. Told in seven chapters, it follows Kinga who has an iteration for every day of the week, from professional matchmaker to window cleaner, leading to a good deal of strife coming to a head when Kinga A finds a man tied up in their apartment. The New Statesman described this one as ‘dizzyingly funny’. Fingers crossed.

Emma Forrest’s Father Figure is set in a private school where Gail is a scholarship pupil, impulsive and on the lookout for adventure. She’s about to meet the father of a new girl, wealthy, powerful with a shady past and deeply anxious about his daughter. ‘When Agata starts at Saint Saviour’s, Gail and Ezra’s paths cross, and with an unstoppable momentum, their lives intertwine in ways more dangerous than either could ever predict’ according to the publishers which sounds a little overwrought to me, but I liked Forrest’s Royals back in 2019.

Catherine Chidgey’s The Book of Guilt is largely set in an alternate version of 1979, close to reality but unsettlingly different, it follows a set of thirteen-year-old triplets living in a children’s home in the New Forest, part of the Sycamore Project to be wound down under the new government. They’ve been told their parents both died young from heart attacks, obediently accepting their daily medicine, recounting their dreams and attending lessons based on the Book of Knowledge. Brought up in isolation, they’re polite and well behaved, treated with disdain on rare visits to the local town, comments that make no sense to them muttered as they pass. There’s a lot of darkness in Chidgey’s novel which asks questions about nature and nurture, what makes us human, and the ethics of research wrapped up in a gripping piece of storytelling.

Gráinne O’Hare’s debut, Thirst Trap, sees three close friends, on the cusp of thirty, living in the house they shared with a fourth whose death in a car accident devastated them. A year later, each of them is dealing – or failing to deal – with the aftermath in their own, self-destructive way: Harley lurches from bed to bed, fuelled by a cocktail of drink and drugs; Róise seethes in her room, writing off a promising new relationship while Maggie still jumps to the tune of an old student lover who persistently refers to her as a ‘friend’. Despite the grief at the heart of her novel, O’Hare’s narrative is full of an affectionate humour for her characters. Don’t be put off by that cover.

John Patrick McHugh’s Fun and Games is also about friendship, following seventeen-year-old John and his footballing mates through the summer of 2009, all four determined to play for their club in the Championship. John spends much of his time consumed with social anxiety, his thoughts fully taken up with himself – his prospects with the team and the woman he works alongside in his summer job, what his friends think of him, how horrible his body is in comparison with theirs – leaving little room for anyone else. As the summer wears on, he’s faced with a few home truths, even managing to grow up a little. A funny, poignant, coming-of-age story which smartly nails late adolescence.

I’m not a crime fan but I like the sound of Noah Eaton’s Orwell Prize for Fiction shortlisted The Harrow. The eponymous magazine is fighting a seemingly losing battle against closure when trainee journalist Danny Roth arrives. His editor is reluctant to let him investigate a local gangland killing but Danny’s determined and soon finds himself caught up in a story that could either save The Harrow or result in their own demise. ‘A brilliantly plotted crime mystery full of larger-than-life characters from the seamy underbelly of modern London’ says the blurb promisingly.

J. Michelle Coghlan’s New York: A Literary Anthology sounds like a collection to dip into for those of us who can’t seem to get enough of the city, at least between the pages. ‘New York – the city that never sleeps – is brought to life in this vivid and lively anthology. From Staten Island to the Statue of Liberty, for centuries authors and poets have been inspired to write about the heady highs and formidable lows of New York: its people, places and unique history’ says the blurb which sounds right up my street.

That’s it for May. A click on a title will take you either to my review or to a more detailed synopsis should you want to know more, and if you’d like to catch up with part one it’s here. New fiction is here and here.