Who are the voices we're reading this month? There's new fiction from Colson Whitehead, a translated lecture from French powerhouse Annie Ernaux, Anna Funder's retelling of George Orwell's forgotten first wife, and more. All the best book releases to emerge in July 2023, below.
Lost on Me, Veronica Raimo
Release date: June 27
If you enjoy Deborah Levy or Natalia Ginzburg, then you'll appreciate the writing of Italian author and translator, Veronica Raimo. Although technically the book was released at the tail end of last month, we believe it warrants a mention. Deeply original and with kudos from Naoise Dolan and Katherine Heiny, this bildungsroman follows Vero, a 15-year-old girl, writer and compulsive liar as she plots various bids for freedom, all of which are thwarted by her savvy mother. The film rights have been snapped up by Fandango, so look out for news of a future movie.
I Will Write to Avenge My People, Annie Ernaux
Release date: July 4
Translated by Alison L. Strayer, Fitzcarraldo Editions has published a Nobel Lecture, Ernaux delivered in Stockholm on 7 December 2022. The title is derived from a diary entry Ernaux first wrote as a young woman, returning to it to defend the purpose and promise of political literature. With a name like that, it's sure to become a classic.
Wifedom, Anna Funder
Release date: July 4
Think you know George Orwell? How about his first wife, Eileen O'Shaughnessy, ever heard of her? From Tolstoy to Fitzgerald, the wives of male authors have famously gone uncredited and their efforts egregiously downplayed. In her latest book, Wifedom, Anna Funder rescues the woman responsible for Animal Farm from history's dustbin. Read our interview with the Miles Franklin Award-winning author here.
What About Men, Caitlin Moran
Release date: July 4
Named after the infuriating question lobbed at millions of women advocating for feminism, Moran goes where many of us cannot be arsed to unpack where men fit into the movement. As always, she does it with humour and energy. Where she summons it from, I will never know.
The Shape of Dust, Lamisse Hamouda
Release date: July 4
Lamisse Hamouda moved to Egypt in 2018, armed with a scholarship to the American University of Cairo and plans for a family holiday in Cairo. When her father, Australian-Egyptian citizen Hazem Hamouda, vanishes while travelling to meet her, Lamisse's life is flipped upside down. Through what little Arabic she knows and even less legal knowledge, Lamisse learns her father has been arbitrarily detained and most devastating of all, that the Australian embassy offers scanty support to dual citizens arrested abroad.
Study for Obedience, Sarah Bernstein
Release date: July 6
A promising young writer, Sarah Bernstein's submission to the canon of post Me Too literature is shrewdly observed, eerie and familiar. Set in an undisclosed northern country, the nameless narrator drops everything to serve as a maid to her newly divorced older brother. Their relationship is fraught and the power dynamic uneven, and when a slate of local environmental disturbances are attributed to her arrival, the townspeople too grow hostile of her presence.
Ripe, Sarah Rose Etter
Release date: July 11
For readers of Ottessa Moshfegh and Raven Leilani. Sarah Rose Etter creates a grim portrait of cutthroat Silicon Valley through the detached voice of Cassie, its latest employee. There's toxic bosses, long hours, obscene wealth which sits in direct comparison to the scenes of blatant poverty outside her office window, and to top it all off, a growing knot of depression and an unplanned pregnancy.
Rental Person Who Does Nothing, Shoji Morimoto
Release date: July 11
For as long as he can remember, Shoji Morimoto has been called a "do-nothing" because he lacked initiative. Unemployed and downcast, Morimoto decided that if he was good for nothing, he might as well make a business out of it, and took to Twitter to announce that he was officially a gun for hire...to do nothing. Surprisingly, his service is exactly what people needed. Rented over 4000 times and counting, Morimoto has accompanied people to life-changing surgeries, broken bread with newly divorced clients and provided company to people revisiting the site of their suicide attempts. All true stories, all his, Morimoto adds author to his eccentric resume.
A Real Piece of Work, Erin Riley
Release date: July 25
After receiving Penguin Random House Australia’s 2021 Write It fellowship program, social worker and author Erin Riley presents A Real Piece of Work. The book comprises of 20 intimate essays that serve as manifesto, spanning topics like identity, heartbreak, humanity, swimming, disruption and the road to authenticity.
Crook Manifesto, Colson Whitehead
Release date: July 25
It's New York City in 1971. The streets are piled tall with trash, crime is at an all-time high, and Ray Carney is just trying his best to lay low. He's moved on from the days moving stolen goods around the city, it's strictly the straight-and-narrow for him, unlike the Ray in Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle. That is until he needs Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter May. Just when you think you're out... he's hitting up his old police contact Munson, fixer extraordinaire.
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