The Most Eagerly Anticipated Fiction by Women in 2022

Part sci-fi, part dreamy drama, ‘The House Between Earth and the Moon’ follows the residents of Parallaxis—a luxury space station developed by tech giant Sensus—as they try to build a home for billionaires to escape Earth's increasing inhospitality. Meanwhile, the people they leave back home—particularly the family of Alex, a researcher seeking to create a carbon-guzzling algae—are struggling with both their present and futures.

Some of the best contemporary fiction is YA, and ‘All My Rage’ is one of the strongest new examples. This moving—and at times devastating—book follows best friends Noor and Salahudin as Sal tries to save his family’s motel and Noor tries to strike out on her own.

Described as a refreshingly modern 'Sex and the City,' 'Wahala,' the buzzy debut novel from Nikki May, follows three Anglo-Nigerian best friends in London whose dynamic is shattered by a fourth addition to the group. I read it in a single sitting.

Most books about serial killers focus exclusively on the murderer and their acts. Not ‘Notes on an Execution,’ which centers several women who are not victims nor co-conspirators of fictional serial killer Ansel Packer. Anything but gratuitous, this beautifully written book does overtime as a suspense-driven mediation on the true crime industry.

Taking inspiration from the Anna Delveys of the world, ‘Cover Story’ is a delicious read about a young intern who gets caught up in a breathtakingly opulent—if claustrophobic—scheme (or four). No spoilers here, but I’m still thinking about that ending.

This frank and moving debut by Jean Chen Ho, told in short stories from differing eras and perspectives, follows a pair of Taiwanese American best friends as they navigate grief, ambition, and the changing realities of their friendship.

Like ‘A House Between Earth and the Moon,’ this thoughtful novel asks jarring questions about our future with real emotional depth. Frida is a doting mother to her daughter Harriet, until she makes a single mistake—and suddenly, the government is debating whether she’s a candidate for a terrifying tech-driven program that measures what makes a “good” or “bad” parent…and if Frida “deserves” to keep her child.

This layered family drama by debut author Jendella Benson follows Glory Akindele, a prodigal daughter who returns to London from L.A. to find her family shattered…but Glory's journey to put them back together leads her to question everything she believed about them.

Yanagihara is set to be one of the literary greats of our generation, and her third novel illustrates why. You'll lose yourself in this sweeping epic that's really three novels in one—which, told together, tell an unforgettable story about the American experiment.

A shot of joy in book form, 'When You Get the Chance' follows Millie, a lovable Broadway wannabe on a search for her birth mom—using her dad's old LiveJournal. Big-hearted and bursting with emotion, you'll devour this coming-of-age story.

The new YA thriller by Jessica Goodman—whose debut, 'They Wish They Were Us,' is in development as an HBO Max series—is about an elite summer camp rocked by a sudden death. Told with Goodman's signature sense of place, 'The Counselors' is a delicious and layered thrill ride.

The best books about grief find a way to illuminate the darkness of loss, and 'Remarkably Bright Creatures' offers a masterclass. Van Pelt's debut follows Tova, a woman shattered by the death of her husband and disappearance of her son, who forms an unlikely bond with a giant octopus at the aquarium where she works.

When it comes to cozy dramas with a side of suspense, nobody does it better than Diane Chamberlain. Her latest novel follows an architect who moves into the home she designed with her late husband—but there are deep secrets in her new neighborhood, and we must go back to 1965, with a young student who decides to join the fight for civil rights, to learn what they are.