This novel of timely ideas generated such deafening buzz at the the last Frankfurt Book Fair that its international publishers are positioning it as a “major event publication.” Likened to Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, the story has three alternate (and alternating) narratives that track the consequences of a mother’s three different decisions about the official name of her baby boy in 1987: Bear, Julian or Gordon (the family name her abusive husband wants). We see how each choice shapes the contours of his life, to the age of 35. (May 6)

Like Tom Hanks’s loveable curmudgeon in the movie version of Backman’s 2012 international sensation A Man Called Ove, there’s no denying that the Swedish author can spin funny, deeply moving yarns. (And has a special talent for fleshing out an ensemble cast, giving each character vivid personality.) His newest such tale tracks the friendship between four misfit teenagers into adulthood and middle age, when they connect with a vulnerable teen in foster care who reminds them of themselves. Backman takes us through their hardship and joy with his signature quirky humour and genuine warmth, and not an ounce of saccharine syrup. (May 6)

Austrian filmmaker G.W. Pabst fled the Nazis and launched the careers of Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks before later being coerced into making promotional movies by the fascist regime’s propaganda minister Goebbels. Dramatizing how the director became a reluctant collaborator and chronicling the ever-changing political landscape, the book illustrates the blurry lines of moral compromises and complicity, then and now. (May 6)

Time and space are elliptical constructs in the elegant new novel by Vancouver-born Thien, who lives in Montreal. The Governor General’s Literary Award winner (for Do Not Say We Have Nothing) offers a contemplative tale of a father-daughter who, due to climate catastrophe, are forced apart from the rest of their family by migration. Displaced to a staging point called The Sea, Lina is only allowed 3 books on the journey and her treasured biographies of Spinoza, Arendt and Du Fu mingle with generational storytelling. Reading it is a demanding but almost mystical experience in itself, all while offering oblique commentary on the refugee crisis. (May 6)

It’s been eight years since the last book from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two Oprah Book Club selections. In his gripping, darker latest, new father Corby loses his job and has substance abuse issues, becoming the stay-at-home parent to his young twins. He ends up in prison following a mistake that leads to life-altering tragedy. In the correctional facility he bonds with the prison librarian Lamb, who spent years leading creative writing workshops in prisons, brings his understanding of pain, addiction, atonement and forgiveness to bear on the heart-wrenching story. (May 6)

The masterful latest from the celebrated author (On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous) is both visceral and tender. It charts the unexpected friendship between Hai, a wayward young man in New England contemplating suicide, who becomes the caretaker for an 82-year-old Lithuanian widow living with early stage dementia. The elderly and young are at very different stages, but when it comes to second chances Vuong tells PW they actually have a lot in common, “because they’re both closest to nothing. They’re sequestered in two different kinds of loneliness, but there’s a similar ground because they’ve been pushed out from the centre.” (May 13)

Fans of the long-running British game show Countdown are already familiar with the lexicographer and etymologist who has appeared on the show since 1992 (as the show’s resident word expert, she’s appeared in more episodes than anyone else). At 60, Dent makes her fiction debut with a clever, pacy literary mystery about the senior editor at a dictionary investigating a series of enigmatic letters, and a family member’s puzzling disappearance. An atmospheric Oxford setting adds to the logophile’s delight. (May 13)

The complex ties between a far-flung group of high-achieving friends over the course of the 21st century is the canvas of this engrossing group portrait. From a young would-be mother to a McGill professor contending with allegations of inappropriate conduct with students in the era of #MeToo, we follow their romantic affairs and professional progress, beginning with their university years. The Canadian journalist-turned-pediatrician (and novelist) entwines their lives, with each character’s point of view getting its own section of the book, overlapping and entwining like a braid that reveals and enlightens the events that came before. (May 13)

New York chef Kostya discovers he has a gift – aftertaste, which can reunite loved ones for a last meal together. So he puts it to use in his new restaurant. Nigella Lawson has been enthusing about this meditation on grief, love and death, which would be reason enough to read it. But Lavelle’s novel is a culinary ghost story that’s also an insider’s dive into the New York restaurant world and offers wonderful food writing. Fans of MFK Fisher and Ruth Reichl (or Balthazar restauranteur Keith McNally’s irreverent new memoir) will especially devour it. (May 20)

Known for his breathless action plotting, the writer’s latest intrigue offers more character-driven suspense and orbits around The Bohemia, an exclusive Upper West Side apartment building. As longtime day doorman, former military Chicky Diaz sees and knows all the secrets of both the privileged inhabitants and of the working class staff who tend to their wants and needs. Tensions are high in the city following the shooting of a Black man by police and when an act of violence in the building unites them, Pavone casts a critical eye on social class and income disparity. It could be a killer Elsbeth episode. (May 20)

The author returns to the Okanagan Indian Reserve of his bestselling 2021 debut All the Quiet Places (published at the age of 70!) to focus on the younger brother from that novel’s family. It’s the summer of 1968 and 16-year-old Lewis Toma is spending the summer at his cousins’ farm on the Salmon River, but his scheming father is back in town to cause trouble. Five Little Indians author Michelle Good praises this “complex yet navigable tale that opens a window onto a tale of struggle, privation, and an undying determination to survive and thrive” while contending with colonial forces. (May 27)

There’s no getting around the fact this is a dystopian novel about old people dying. That aside, the debut of Toronto-born London transplant Flahive (a publishing insider) is remarkably upbeat. Set near Orlando in the year 2067, California is on fire and much of the United States is without reliable power. Yet the memorable community of older women in the titular retirement community persist. Moving back and forth in time, it’s a rollicking countdown of the life and farewell bash (and eventual assisted death) of septuagenarian resident Hannah, who’s hoping Sophie, the long-lost love of her life, will make it in time to say goodbye. (May 27)