New April Fiction

Spring and April Fool’s Day have finally sprung on us all, and they bring an interesting array of new selections for the fiction bibliophile. There’s everything from meet-cute plots to thrillers to stories that ride the angst wave pretty hard, which makes it even easier to pick the one that is just right for laying down on the fresh spring grass atop a favorite blanket to enjoy a bit of literary down-time. Just be wary if you’re allergic to pollen…or that lovely April grass.

Foxlowe by Eleanor Wasserberg: An old house in the moors à la Withering Heights and a commune that has “stay away” written all over it, Foxlowe by Eleanor Wasserberg relates the story of young Green and her Family, who live isolated and cut off from the world in the seemingly ideal Foxlowe Manor. No one seems to ever want to leave Foxlowe…but what happens when they do? Penguin Group. Release date, April 4.

Sympathy by Olivia Sudjic: Delusion is never a good thing, and even less so when it involves an unhealthy fixation with someone else. Case in point, Alice Hare who leaves her home in England under the conviction that Mizuko Himura, a Japanese writer living in New York is her “internet twin” due to strange coincidences in both their lives. For Mizuko, the encounter with Alice is pure chance; for Alice, it’s everything. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Release date, April 4.

My Last Lament by James William Brown: Aliki, a lamenter in Greece is a dying breed. She lives to mourn and celebrate the passing of life, but her purpose becomes twofold when her own father is murdered by occupying Nazi officers for stealing. Aliki’s life becomes bound to a Jewish refugee and her son, and together they will witness pain, grief, death, and friendship. Berkley Publishing Group. Release date, April 4.

The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Myers: Phoebe Pierce’s life changes in a heartbeat when her high-powered financier husband is accused of conning hundreds of people out of their savings. Phoebe now has to deal with the consequences of her husband’s actions, the anger of the people he scammed, her children’s disappointment and her own world falling apart. Atria Books. Release date, April 11.

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova: When Alexandra Boyd accidentally takes someone else’s bag, she intends to return it immediately. But when she looks inside and sees an urn with human ashes, Alexandra is set on a collision course with danger and dark secrets that will take her deep into the heart of Bulgaria and a story that has a multitude of layers. Ballantine Books. Release date, April 11.

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio: Oliver Marks has been in prison for ten years, convicted of a horrible crime. The detective that put him away is waiting when Oliver is released because he knows there is more to this story than what Oliver was willing to tell. Finally, Oliver is ready to reveal to Detective Colborne what happened the day that seven young Shakespearean actors, Oliver included, went from innocent competition to one of violence and murder. Flatiron Books. Release date, April 11.

The Night The Lights Went Out by  Karen White: Recent divorcée Merilee moves to Sweet Apple, Georgia with her two children in the hopes of a fresh start. Her landlady, town doyenne Sugar Prescott is welcoming and offers Merilee a much needed hand along with a new role as her confidante. In this new life of possibilities, Merilee also forms a new friendship with young mother and socialite Heather Blackford. But appearances can be deceiving, and as Merilee will soon find out, even  dangerous. Berkley Publishing Group. Release date, April 11.

Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen:  Hannah Monroe can’t understand what happened to her boyfriend Matt. He’s vanished, and with him every hint of their life together, and even his social life online and off it, Matt seems to have never existed.  Hannah knows that she needs to find Matt and get to the truth of his disappearance, but what she doesn’t know is that the search will lead her to a truth she may not want to know. Berkley Publishing Group. U.S. release date, April 18.

The F Word by Liza Palmer: Who is Olivia Morten? To her frivolous and rich society friends, to her handsome but absent husband, to her celebrity clients she is a sought-after top-dog publicist with an enviable life. But Olivia knows the truth, and so does Ben Dunn, a face from a past she would rather forget and keep hidden. But when Olivia is forced to acknowledge that unspoken word of who she used to be, she’ll have to choose between her made-up life or perhaps an unknown happier one. Flatiron Books. Release date, April 25.

I Found You by Lisa Jewell: A rag-tag group of people come together in a bizarre twist of entangled fates in Lisa Jewell’s latest novel, I Found You. A young bride, whose husband not only vanished but seemingly never existed, a lonely single mother and a man with no memory all become part of each other’s story. Simon & Schuster. Release date, April 25.

Beartown by Fredrik Backman: The best-selling author of A Man Called Ove and Britt-Marie Was Here, returns once again with the story of a tiny forgotten town that still remembers the heyday of Beartown marked by an old ice rink. Now, in the midst of ice-hockey national semi-finals, the town has a shot in restoring itself to what it used to be. But well-kept secrets and rivalries threaten the very thing Beartown has long struggled to achieve: unity. Atria Books. Release date, April 25.

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout: This new novel by the author of Olive Kitteridge, is written in tandem with her previous bestselling novel, My Name is Lucy Barton, introducing new characters and putting us in touch with others we previously met in a delightful amalgam of family bonds and friendship. Random House. Release date, April 25.