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Who Killed Palomino Molero? by Mario Vargas Llosa (Faber) — a young air force pilot, beloved and gentle, is found tortured and murdered in a small Peruvian coastal town. Lieutenant Lituma investigates in the heat and the dust, and what he finds is a story of desire, hierarchy, and the cruelties that class and power arrange in any society that refuses to examine them honestly. Vargas Llosa at his most economical — devastating in barely a hundred and sixty pages. Published by Faber & Faber.

Immortality by Milan Kundera (Faber) — Kundera’s most ambitious novel: a meditation on fame, identity, and what it means to be a person in a world saturated with images of people that outlast, distort, and ultimately replace the originals. Formally extraordinary — Kundera appears as a character, converses with his creations, and moves between Paris and nineteenth-century Germany with complete confidence. The summit of his novelistic achievement. Published by Faber & Faber.

Inferno by Dan Brown (Corgi) — Robert Langdon wakes in Florence with a gunshot wound and no memory of the previous forty-eight hours. A code encoded in Botticelli’s Map of Hell leads him through the most beautiful buildings of Florence, Venice, and Istanbul in a race to prevent a catastrophe of Dante-esque proportions. The fourth Langdon novel combines Renaissance art history and Dante scholarship with Brown’s trademark plotting velocity. Published by Corgi.

Greek Lessons by Han Kang (Penguin) — a man losing his sight and his ancient Greek, word by word; a woman who has lost her languages and is trying to find a new one. Between them, something begins that neither has words for. The Nobel Prize winner writes about language itself — about the way it both constitutes and fails us, about the particular vulnerability of a person stripped of the words that define their inner life. Quietly devastating. Published by Penguin.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Penguin) — a foreign correspondent returns to the country where a decade-old story still haunts her, and finds that the distance she has kept from her own life is no longer enough to protect her. Written with the clarity of someone who understands how journalism actually works — not as heroism but as daily compromise and judgement under pressure — a gripping narrative and serious inquiry into the ethics of witness. Published by Penguin.

The Loneliness of Souza by Kiran Desai (Penguin) — a documentary filmmaker returns to Goa after a long absence to find a city both familiar and completely changed, and people who force her to confront what she has been recording instead of living. Kiran Desai — Booker Prize winner for The Inheritance of Loss — brings the same quality of tender, merciless attention to this smaller, more concentrated canvas. Published by Penguin.

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman (Penguin) — a masterful novella in which a dying CEO tells his estranged son a story about a boy in a hospital and the deal he traded away without knowing its cost. Backman’s emotional ambush is perfectly timed — brief enough to read in one sitting, deep enough to stay with you for a long time. Published by Penguin.

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (Penguin) — one of the most celebrated debut novels of the twenty-first century. A young American’s search for the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis excavates the destroyed shtetl of Trachimbrod with formal invention, emotional power, and considerable humour. A modern classic of Holocaust literature.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Vintage) — narrated by Christopher Boone, a fifteen-year-old with extraordinary mathematical ability, as he investigates the murder of his neighbour’s dog. Simultaneously a detective story, a portrait of neurodiversity, and a moving father-son narrative. Winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.

South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami (Vintage) — a quietly devastating novel about the longing that haunts a life. When Hajime is reunited with his childhood love after twenty-five years, his apparently settled existence begins to unravel. Murakami’s most focused exploration of desire and the life unlived. Translated by Philip Gabriel.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami (Vintage) — a haunting short novel of unrequited love and mysterious disappearance. When Sumire vanishes on a Greek island, her friend K’s search opens onto the uncanny distances between even the closest people. Translated by Philip Gabriel.

Mario Vargas Llosa’s provocative novel examines military duty and moral complexity through the lens of Peru’s army. This masterful fiction explores themes of officers, prostitution, and institutional power with the Nobel laureate’s signature blend of dark humor and social commentary. A compelling study of bureaucratic absurdity and human nature.

Amélie Nothomb’s darkly satirical masterpiece examines reality television culture through the lens of women prisoners in this provocative French fiction. A brilliant exploration of entertainment, exploitation, and human dignity that showcases Nothomb’s signature wit and social commentary. This thought-provoking novel delivers sharp cultural criticism wrapped in intelligent humor, making it essential reading for contemporary literature enthusiasts.

Anna Gavalda’s Billie, translated by Jennifer Rappaport, offers readers compelling contemporary fiction from one of today’s most celebrated authors. This thoughtful novel from Europa Editions explores human relationships and personal growth with Gavalda’s signature emotional depth and authentic character development. Experience masterful storytelling that resonates across cultures through expert translation, delivering both entertainment and meaningful reflection on life’s complexities in accessible, engaging prose.

Amélie Nothomb’s Thirst arrives in a masterful English translation by Alison Anderson, courtesy of Europa Editions. This latest work from the acclaimed Belgian author delivers her signature blend of provocative storytelling and profound insight into human nature. Nothomb’s distinctive literary voice shines through Anderson’s precise translation, offering readers an intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant experience that exemplifies contemporary international fiction at its finest.