2010 Debut Novels

We all have our favorite authors and wait for their new releases. Yet from time to time it can be refreshing or just plain fun to try a work by a new author. Here are three debut novels ranked among the best of 2010 by Booklist magazine:

 

Anthill  by Edward O. Wilson. The author, a world-renowned biologist, sets his first novel in the swamplands of Alabama. Part thriller/part parable, this novel examines the true meaning of survival in the 21st Century through the eyes of Raff Cody, a modern day Huck Finn.

Bloodroot  by Amy Greene. This novel explores the legacies that haunt one Appalachian family, especially its women --Byrdie, Clio, Myra and Laura-- from the times of the Great Depression to today. But while history and the passage of time play important roles in this story, the characters' family bonds matter most. The landscape changes, their circumstances change but their blood ties are unbreakable.

Rich Boy  by Sharon Pomerantz. Robert Vishniak, the novel’s main character, dreams of escaping Oxford, a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood. His good looks, bright mind, and hard work take him to Tufts University, NYU law school, and finally to a cushy law firm job. A chance encounter with a beautiful girl from his old neighborhood threatens to unravel his new life. Set during the Reagan era.