New Literary Fiction to Read in 2025
Find new literary fiction novels to add to your 2025 reading list.
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Of all the new books that come out each year, it’s the literary fiction that I get most excited about.
“Literary fiction” is a tricky label; what qualifies something as “literary” vs. not? You’ll notice, too, that most of these cross genres and could be included in other lists of new books (and some of the other lists include books that could fall here).
But I do like to call out the books that strike me as “literary fiction,” squishy as that term can sometimes be.
To me, these books aren’t just telling a story, they are saying something about the world at large, and our place in it.
The stories may be quieter, with fewer notable plot points (detractors may complain of being bored or of “nothing really happening”). But beneath the quiet stories lurk larger truths and insights that can keep us reflecting and returning to a novel for years to come.
I love a good page-turner or light read as much as anyone, but it’s the literary fiction novels that stick with me—and most of my list of favorite books is populated with them.
There are plenty of excellent literary fiction choices coming in 2025, if you, too, gravitate toward books like these. I’ve already read a number of them and they have been four- and five-star reads (see my reviews below).
Be sure to pin or bookmark this post; I’ll update here when I read and review these books, and when I have more to add to this list.
All the Water in the World
Author: Eiren Caffall
Publish Date: January 7, 2025
Source: St. Martin’s Press
Genres: Literary Fiction, Dystopia, Sci Fi
In a near-empty New York City after the glaciers melted, Nonie and her family have taken refuge on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. Most of the inhabitants include former employees, devoted to the preservation of the collections and history. When a storm breaches the flood walls, Nonie and her family escape by boat, hoping to reach a rumored family home to the north. The journey is dangerous, and they encounter differing ideas of what survival and community mean, forcing them to decide how their future looks.
In describing this book to friends, I found myself saying, “It’s like The Road, but on water.” And it very much is; the journey and the future feel similar, without quite the level of bleakness. From the characters determined to preserve history and legacy (inspired here by real curators in Iraq and Leningrad who did the same during times of war) to the ways that people form communities, however imperfect, this may not be a feel-good climate read, but it is a hopeful one.
The Favorites
Author: Layne Fargo
Publish Date: January 14, 2025
Source: Random House
Genres: Literary Fiction
Ten years after their ice dancing partnership came to an abrupt halt at the Olympics, a documentary examines the story of Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha. This is Wuthering Heights on the ice, Daisy Jones and the Six-style, from the tragedies that brought them together to the inescapable pull they had to one another to the turbulent ups and downs of their relationship.
Good Dirt
Author: Charmaine Wilkerson
Publish Date: January 28, 2025
Source: Ballantine Books
Genres: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
When Ebby Freeman was 10 years old, her older brother Baz was killed in a home invasion. She witnessed it all, but the crime was never solved, and as one of the only Black families in the affluent New England neighborhood, the spotlight stayed on the Freemans for years. When Ebby is left at the altar by her high-profile fiancé, she again finds herself the object of speculation. She retreats to France, where she begins examining her past–and her family’s history, long embodied in a piece of pottery that was destroyed on the day Baz died.
Told in alternating timelines, we follow Ebby as she learns more about her family history, and comes to terms with her own past and present. Her research takes us to her enslaved ancestors, who were skilled potters. Often in books told like this, one timeline feels weaker, but both had me riveted, and like in her debut, Black Cake, Wilkerson is masterful at tying them together. A must-read for 2025.
Penitence
Author: Kristin Koval
Publish Date: January 28, 2025
Source: Celadon Books
Genres: Literary Fiction, Mysteries & Thrillers
After a murder occurs in their home, Angie and David turn to lawyer Martine Dumont–who is also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian. Alongside the current tragedy, Angie and Julian face a tragedy that happened years ago, in a complex examination of guilt, complicity, and redemption. If you liked other recent literary mysteries like Happiness Falls or I Have Some Questions for You, this may be right up your alley.
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Nesting
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Publish Date: February 18, 2025
Source: Libro.fm ALC
Genres: Literary Fiction
One afternoon, Ciara grabs a few things, packs up her young daughters, and takes them away from her husband Ryan. She’s not sure where to go, but home isn’t safe. She lands at a hotel in Dublin that houses women fleeing abusive relationships. From there, she navigates the dizzying maze of finding work and services, managing young kids, and staying strong while her husband alternately begs her to return and further drives her into the ground. Because leaving is one thing, but staying gone proves to be the real challenge.
This was a heart-wrenching and realistic portrayal of the difficulties of leaving abusive relationships, particularly because it focused on the emotional abuse and coercive control that keep people stuck. With children in the mix, the complications and challenges multiply. A testament to the strength of women who walk away with nothing but hope for themselves and their children.
Three Days in June
Author: Anne Tyler
Publish Date: February 11, 2025
Source: Knopf
Genres: Literary Fiction
In the days before her daughter, Debbie, gets married, everything goes wrong for Gail. She loses her job, her ex-husband shows up on her doorstep with a cat, and she’s not even invited to the spa day organized by Debbie’s mother-in-law-to-be. It gets worse when Debbie shares a secret that dredges up the past for Gail and her ex. This novella from Pulitzer-prize winner Tyler is an examination of a few small days in small lives, with the signature Tyler insights that pack a big punch.
The Dream Hotel
Author: Laila Lalami
Publish Date: March 3, 2025
Source: Pantheon
Genres: Literary Fiction, Dystopia, Sci-Fi and Fantasy
While flying home to LA, Sara Hussein is detained at the airport. Her crime? Hasn’t happened yet. But the data from her dreams—collected from an implant she got to help her sleep—says that she’s likely to harm her husband, something she’s never consciously considered. For 21 days, she must be under observation. But small infractions extend her retention by months, with no end in sight and murky legal options in this new environment where potential crimes are a reason for incarceration. A terrifying speculative fiction novel that will have you examining your own privacy (or lack thereof) and beliefs about surveillance and freedom.
Dream Count
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Publish Date: March 4, 2025
Source: Knopf
Genres: Literary Fiction
Four women, from Nigeria to the U.S., face their own choices as they pursue love, success, and community. The publisher describes it as, “A trenchant reflection on the choices we make and those made for us, on daughters and mothers, on our interconnected world…” If you’re a fan of Adichie’s previous work, especially Americanah, you’ve probably been anticipating this next novel for a long time.
Wild Dark Shore
Author: Charlotte McConaghy
Publish Date: March 4, 2025
Source: Flatiron
Genres: Literary Fiction
On a remote island near Antarctica, Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of the seed bank designed to safeguard the food supply and flora diversity in the event of disaster. But as the climate crisis reaches its peak, even the safeguard isn’t safe, and they are tasked with packing up the seeds for relocation. In the midst of this, a woman washes ashore. Even as Dom and Rowan keep secrets, they are drawn to one another, and as Rowan gets closer to him and the kids, she needs to decide if she can trust them enough to grow something new.
Charlotte McConaghy writes incredible eco-fiction, and her last novel, Once There Were Wolves is one of my favorites. I loved this one just as much. The fictional Shearwater Island lends its voice between the lines, through the ghosts of deceased characters and devastated animal inhabitants (based on the history of the real Macquarie Island, where seals and penguins were hunted to near-extinction), adding a mystical tone to the themes of isolation, grief, and ecological destruction.
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The Antidote
Author: Karen Russell
Publish Date: March 11, 2025
Source: Knopf
Genres: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Karen Russell, author of Pulitzer-prize nominated Swamplandia!, takes us to the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska, on Black Sunday. The town is buried under the dust, the Great Depression, and its own history of violence. While the plot is unclear, the description promises a meditation on memory, climate change, and history, complete with a witch’s apprentice, a mysterious scarecrow, and a time-traveling camera. The reviews promise that the magical touch is light and meaningful, and given Russell’s previous works, I have no doubt.
The Names
Author: Florence Knapp
Publish Date: May 6, 2025
Source: Pamela Dorman Books
Genres: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
When Cora visits the registrar to name her newborn son, her abusive and controlling husband, Gordon, expects her to name the boy after him. But Cora hesitates, and what follows is three alternate versions of her son’s life, different only because of her choice of name. A novel with a unique structure that examines the power of a single choice and the far-reaching effects of domestic abuse.
The Emperor of Gladness
Author: Ocean Vuong
Publish Date: May 13, 2025
Source: Penguin Press
Genres: Literary Fiction
As 19-year-old Hai is ready to jump from a bridge into the river in East Gladness, a shout interrupts his plans. Grazina, an elderly widow suffering with dementia, changes his path and he becomes her caretaker. They build a bond that changes the course of his life and his relationship to himself and others. Ocean Vuong is a poet whose On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous had some of the most beautiful, heartbreaking prose I’ve ever read. The publisher’s note of his “ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness” is apt; I can’t wait to read this.
Life, and Death, and Giants
Author: Ron Rindo
Publish Date: September 9, 2025
Source: St. Martin’s Press
Genres: Literary Fiction, Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Magic
This is the story of Gabriel Fisher, born an orphan and a giant–18 pounds and 27 inches at birth, and almost 8 feet tall at 17. When the brother who cares for him dies, Gabriel moves in with his Amish grandparents who want to hide him away. When he’s spotted by a local football coach, everything changes. Told in alternating viewpoints by four residents of Lakota, Wisconsin, this promises to be a gentle, lightly magical read, punctuated by the poems of Emily Dickinson.
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