The Vulnerables: A Novel

"Fans of Sigrid Nunez ( The Friend ) will be pleased to learn that her new novel The Vulnerables is already available in the US and will be in British bookshops from Jan 25. It’s set in Covid-era New York, in which an unnamed female writer moves into a friend-of-a-friend’s apartment to look after their pet macaw, Eureka. This is, technically, her second ‘pandemic novel,’ after Salvation City (2010), which is set during a fictional flu outbreak; previously Nunez has commented how, when the 2020 lockdowns came into effect, she had a sense of eerie premonition: “When all of this started, I thought, ‘Wait, didn’t I write a book about it?'” Towards the end of this month, Kiley Reid will publish Come and Get It , a follow-up to her Booker-longlisted debut Such a Fun Age . Set at the University of Arkansas, it follows mixed-race student Millie as she helps an older female professor to spy on her dorm neighbours. Come and Get It has had more mixed reviews than the earlier book, but nevertheless it’s reported to be a twisty page turner packed with whip-cracking repartee."