2024 has seen many sharp turns.
The United States alone saw a big one recently when incumbent US President Joe Biden changed the landscape (and, potentially, the outcome) of the 2024 presidential elections when he decided to forgo his plan for a second term and endorse the current Vice President Kamala Harris. Come November, she will be the one facing off against the Republican bet Donald Trump in an extremely decisive election that could also be another sharp turn for the country.
In other nations, similar changes came to light. Longstanding political norms were destabilized by novel election results, varying ideologies have gotten loud and proactive enough to disrupt the norm and the preferences of the general public have shifted enough yet again to exalt new zeniths of custom and taste.
It’s been a year of transitions for many and this spirit can be felt even in fiction.
This year, we read of a kidnapping that has shaken a whole family for about 40 years; we learn of a woman who got tangled in campus intrigue as she tried to chase after her dream life. There were troubled teenage boxers who joined a tournament meant to decide on who was the best in their country, and an artist struggling in her mid-40s who went off the path of a planned road trip to reinvent herself.
These are some of the best stories written by women that were published this year. To read them may also be sharp turns away from one’s routine but the amount of talent and wisdom displayed in these books can make you feel like you’re facing the right direction.
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
This book may be titled “Headshot” but you also feel it in the chest and the gut. Such is the talent of Rita Bullwinkel.
In her debut novel, Bullwinkel looks into the lives of eight teenage girl boxers who all went to Reno, Nevada to become the best in the country through a tournament called Daughters of America Cup. Each have their own reasons for being there and all have sacrificed something for their goal. But still, there’s technically only room for one winner. And as we follow various face-offs meant to find who that is, we get an intimate, raw and, at times, funny look into the world of physical competition and private battles.
As far as first novels go, this one is a heavy hitter.
All Fours by Miranda July
The narrator of Miranda July’s “All Fours” is a mother, wife and a somewhat well-known artist. She was supposed to take a road trip from her home in LA to New York. But, about 20 minutes after her journey began, she took a turn out of the freeway and began a new life.
This is the reinvention captured in All Fours—a funny, intimate and irreverent look into the challenges of aging. July—who is also an artist herself—displays in this book her great talent for making people laugh while toying with their emotions.
Perhaps—whether through drama and comedy–this book will also have you in all fours.
Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
The title of Kiley Reid’s novel is “Come and Get It” but at the heart of it is a question: can you afford it?
Set in 2017 at the University of Arkansas, Reid’s book explores consumerism in America through a cast of college characters. Leading them are Millie Cousins (a senior resident assistant looking to graduate, get a job and buy a house,) and Agatha Paul (a visiting professor and writer who offers Millie a financial opportunity.) As their deal unfolds, Reid forces us to look at how much money runs our lives as well as the consequences of this reality.
Finances can be a difficult discussion to have even at this day and age of widely championed transparency. But Reid’s talent make the talk fresh, intimate and exciting—enough to make her invitation of a title worthy of consideration.
Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
You may escape your captors but that doesn’t mean you’ve escaped captivity. This, at least, is one of the ideas in Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s witty and engaging “Long Island Compromise.”
In this novel, a wealthy businessman by the name of Carl Fletcher was kidnapped and brutalized because of his wealthy. He also survived because of it. About 40 years after this event, however, he and his family continue to feel its effects.
Carl continues to seek closure for what happened to him; his wife Ruth is still stuck trying to protect his fragile mental health. And their children have their own problems. Nathan could not advance in his career due to fear, Beamer frequently surrenders to temptations to numb his fear, and Jenny rebels from her wealthy upbringing by being an advocate for workers’ rights. At the center of it all is the family’s money: the source of their successes and failures. It is revealed to be all but spent as the story unravels—yet it appears to remain a captor of a family of captives.
