‘Like Kafka by way of Pedro Almodóvar’: 10 debut novels to look out for in 2026

Belgrave Road Manish Chauhan ( Faber , January ) An affecting tale of loneliness and love in Chauhan’s home town of Leicester, Belgrave Road tells the story of Mira, newly arrived in the UK from India following an arranged marriage, and Tahliil, a Somali cleaner who becomes her lunch partner, and her escape. By day, Chauhan is a finance lawyer; his debut novel follows his shortlisting in last year’s BBC short story competition. Eden McKenzie-Goddard, Polly Barton, Madeleine Dunnigan and Manish Chauhan.Illustration: David Newton Photograph: PR Photograph: Little, Brown Book Group Photograph: Penguin Books Ltd Photograph: Penguin Books Ltd This Is Where the Serpent Lives Daniyal Mueenuddin ( Bloomsbury , January ) The Pakistani-American writer’s 2009 story collection, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, was a Pulitzer finalist. Like his debut, hHis first novel is set in Pakistan, moving between bustling cities and agricultural estates, interrogating the country’s class dynamics through an epic portrait spanning six decades. Jean Madeleine Dunnigan ( Daunt , February ) Blurbed by the likes of Katie Kitamura and Garth Greenwell , this 70s-set novel is one of the buzziest debuts of 2026. Jean is sent to boarding school Compton Manor - “aka House of Nutters” - to curb bad behaviour. He is an outsider, a Jewish scholarship boy surrounded by the children of heiresses, but an unlikely connection with a fellow student, Tom, promises to upend, and enrich, his life. Good People Patmeena Sabit ( Virago , February ) Described by Monica Ali as the best debut she’s read “in a very long time”, Sabit’s novel, which took 10 years to complete, is told through dozens of voices surrounding the Sharaf family, who arrived in the US as refugees from Afghanistan in the late 90s. After teenager Zorah Sharaf is found dead in mysterious circumstances, the jury of characters gives their perspectives on what really happened. A clever debut probing the American dream and a clash of cultures. The Renovation Kenan Orhan ( Hamish Hamilton , March ) Dilara, an exile from Turkey living in Italy, plans a bathroom renovation so her elderly father can move in with her. Yet, when the builders leave, she realises something has gone seriously wrong: instead of a bathroom, there is now a cell, modelled after Istanbul’s Silivri mega-prison. This surreal novel of migration and memory, described as “like Kafka by way of Pedro Almodóvar” by the Booker-shortlisted author Avni Doshi, follows Orhan’s celebrated 2023 story collection. The Infamous Gilberts Angela Tomaski ( Fig Tree , March ) Tomaski’s’s has said that “with the publication of this book, 30 years of relentless, excruciating failure come to an end”. Her debut takes the form of a house tour around Thornwalk, the gothic mansion home to the last of the eccentric Wynford Gilberts, and soon to be handed over to a luxury hotel chain. Our tour guide, Maximus, narrates the family’s turbulent history through the house’s many quirks. Yesteryear Caro Claire Burke ( 4th Estate , April ) Natalie is a tradwife...

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