Unpublished novels and fresh fiction from celebrated writers, including items by Gabriel García Márquez and notable works by Eduardo Mendoza, Haruki Murakami, Paul Auster, Annie Ernaux, and Pierre Lemaitre, stand out in 2024’s editorial news. The year is marked by the upcoming centenary commemorations and the continued interest in García Márquez’s literary legacy, alongside eagerly anticipated new titles that promise to shift conversations in contemporary fiction.
The release of a long-awaited García Márquez manuscript, See You in August, is expected to become a pivotal moment for readers and critics alike. The narrative explores themes of life, the passage of time, and the tension between pleasure and duty through the experiences of its central figures. One storyline follows a journey by boat to a place of family memory, an event that transforms a person for a single year. This work appears as a turning point in the current literary landscape, generating wide discussion across markets that value Latin American storytelling and magical realism alike.
In early releases, a new mystery from Mendoza unfolds as a tale about a secret government organization confronting a trio of intertwined investigations. The cases include a lifeless body found in a Las Ramblas hotel and the puzzling disappearances of two wealthy British figures at sea. This narrative thread blends crime, intrigue, and political undercurrents, with distinctive financing from Conservas Fernández highlighted as a backdrop to the publication arc.
Among the spring catalog, City and obscure walls from the publisher Tusquets revisits Haruki Murakami through a reimagining of a prior novella. Murakami continues to revisit familiar motifs—lost love, dreamlike atmospheres, recurring scenarios, and alternate realities—while presenting a fresh, substantial work after a six-year interval. Baumgartner is the name attached to a reflective journey into memory, guided by Paul Auster as he accompanies his character Sy Baumgartner through pivotal life moments in a narrative that emphasizes introspection and memory.
On the international front, Ernaux’s What do they say or nothing appears alongside Take care of her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea, a Goncourt Prize-winning pairing. Fourteen days brings together Margaret Atwood, Douglas Preston, Tommy Orange, and Celeste Ng in a collaborative novel, while David Safier’s While we are alive and Hervé Le Tellier’s All happy families appear in Seix’s lineup, underscoring a broad spectrum of voices and styles.
Other standout titles include Chuck Palahniuk’s The Invention of Sound from Random House; Maggie O’Farrell’s The Distance That Separates Us, an upcoming Spanish edition; Amélie Nothomb’s Aerostats from Anagrama; Stine Pilgaard’s Meter per second from Nordic; Tessa Hadley’s The Past from Sixth Floor; and Kim Ho-Yeon Yeom’s Mrs. Amazing Shop from Duomo, all featured prominently in 2023–2024 lists. The Lumen category also highlights Thomas Schlesser’s Mona’s Eyes and Ada D’Adamo’s As of Air, both tied to the 2023 Strega Award recognition.
To honor Kafka’s centenary, Monika Zgustova’s I am Milena from Prague from Galaxia Gutenberg is planned, with Acantilado releasing You are the mission’s Aphorisms along with complete stories and a selection of short works from several publishers. Páginas de Espuma will feature Complete Stories, and Nordic and other houses will bring additional collections, enriching the year’s literary map with a mix of novellas and story cycles.
Spain’s panorama also shines through Luis Landero’s The Last Function from Tusquets, vibrancy in José Ovejero’s Vibración, and the first two volumes of Complete Works by Luis Martín Santos from Galaxia. Nativel Preciado’s Words for Olivia, David Uclés’s Peninsula of Empty Houses, and Elvira Sastre’s Vulnerabilities from Seix add to a robust lineup that blends narrative voice with social observation.
Interviews were invented
Under the banner NMK8, Enrique Vila-Matas curates Eight Invented Interviews, an assembly of imagined conversations with cultural icons such as Marlon Brando, Bardem, Nureyev, Rovira Beleta, Anthony Burgess, Cornelius Castoriadis, and Patricia Highsmith. These fake encounters, previously released as playful fiction, continue to shape conversations about authorship and memory.
From Latin America arrive Rodrigo Rey Rosa’s Metempsicosis and Sergio Ramírez’s Golden Horse, both published by Alfaguara. Juan Pablo Villalobos offers The Past is Behind Us through Anagrama, while Diamela Eltit presents Human Failure via Periférica. Florencia Etcheves offers Frida’s Cook with Planeta, and Alan Pauls and Rodrigo Fresán explore the stylistic implications of memory and form in collaboration and solo projects. Three titles tied to Random House—Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun by Mónica Ojeda and two other volumes—continue to attract attention for their experimental voice.
The Best Seller shelf features Danielle Steel’s Complications from Plaza & Janés and Albert Espinosa’s Love Again the Chaos and Friction of Living from Grijalbo, signaling a strong domestic market presence. Dennis Lehane’s Golpe de Grace (Salamandra) and Jo Nesbo’s House of the Night (Reservoir Books) headline suspense offerings, complemented by Joyce Carol Oates’s 48 Clues About My Sister’s Disappearance (RBA) and Alicia Giménez Bartlett’s The Runaway Woman (Destino). Arpeggio of Rain on the Glass by José Luis Correa, The Hunter by Tana French, Louise Penny’s The Blind Kingdom, and Bernard Minier’s The Valley appear alongside other exciting releases across multiple publishers. Salamandra will also publish Samuele’s Private Battle and other Vigàta stories, while Andrea Camilleri’s The Forgotten Massacre revisits Sicily’s historical moments.
Other thriller highlights include Daniel Silva’s The Collector (Harper Collins), Sandrine Destombes’s Ritual (Reservoir), Luis García Jambrina’s The First Unamuno Case (Alfaguara), Cristian Perfumo’s The Lost Manuscript of The Little Prince (Suma), Jorge Ignacio Aguado’s Endgame (B), Rebecca Makkai’s I Have Some Questions for You (Sixth Floor), and Lea Vélez’s Gardel’s Daughter (Contraluz). The catalog also features historic novels like Pierre Lemaitre’s Silence and Anger, Juan Francisco Ferrándiz’s Heir of the Sea, José Calvo Poyato’s Regent King I’d Rather Die, Fermina Cañaveras’s Women’s Barracks, Katherine Chen’s Joan of Arc, Elizabeth Fremantle’s The Queen’s Game, and Dan Jones’s The Hounds of Essex. In addition, Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe and the Battle of Vitoria and Enrique Bocanegra’s The Attack on Hispaniola appear on Edhasa’s list, with Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis’s The Auschwitz Photographer and Brianna Labuskes’s The Keeper of Burnt Books also in the mix. Ivan Sciapeconi’s 40 Coats and a Button and Luis del Pino’s I Am Slandered round out a wide shelf, while Carla Montero’s Raisin of the Moon, Máximo Huerta’s Paris Woke Up Late, Martín Llade’s The Razumovsky Mystery, Gabrielle Wittkop’s Very Quiet Murder, and Éric Fouassie’s The Vicar’s Ghost contribute to a rich historical panorama.
Poetry and short fiction will be marked by Rafael Cadenas’s An Rilke, Variations, a Cervantes Prize contender published by Galaxia; Ana María Moix’s Complete Poem from Lumen; and Bohumil Hrabal’s Ritual Murders, a verse-centric edition. Fairy tales feature George Saunders’s Emancipation Day, Clara Obligado’s Three Ways to Say Goodbye, María Fernanda Ampuero’s Visceral, and Jorge Edwards’s Complete Stories; Teddy Goldenberg’s Underworld City; Julien Gracq’s Home; and Tolstoy’s Lucerne and Albert offer a classic counterpoint. Classic and contemporary readers alike will encounter Ipomedon, a Siruela edition from Hue de Rotelande, along with Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror, illustrated by François Baranger.