Harlem Shuffle: A Novel

"Colson Whitehead, twice-winner of the Pulitzer Prize (for The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys) , is to publish Harlem Shuffle, a 1960s-set heist billed as “a family saga masquerading as a crime novel” (Sept 14). Whitehead’s high concept novels have often leaned on the conventions of genre fiction—and subverted them to glorious effect. For Harlem Shuffle, Whitehead turned for inspiration to caper films, crafting his comedic, intricately complex plot in their image. “I love the meticulous planning;” he has said , “the way the heisters try to outwit destiny and fate by exercising their own will.” The “complicated jigsaw” cover by Oliver Munday is, he says, a good clue as to what readers can expect inside. I should also note that Elizabeth Strou t is due to publish Oh William! , in which the title character of My Name is Lucy Barton reconnects with her ex-husband. It’s garnered advance praise from such luminaries as Hilary Mantel, Anne Patchett, Zadie Smith and Maggie O’Farrell. And Gary Shteyngart (author of the oft-recommended Super Sad True Love Story ) will release Our Country Friends , in which eight friends shelter together in the Hudson Valley during the first months of the Covid-19 lockdown (Nov 2). Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train —which sold 20m copies and was made into a Hollywood movie starring Emily Blunt—is shortly to publish a new thriller. A Slow Fire Burning offers a twisting, turning, cerebral mystery featuring—unusually—a male victim and several women suspects (Aug 31). There’s a large cast of complicated characters, a book within a book, and a murder on a houseboat. The Guardian has declared it “a return to form” after Hawkin’s slightly underwhelming last novel, Into the Water ."