It resurrects the tender story of five children killed in a bomb blast during the war and explores what kind of a future these children could have had if they had survived. This is yet another highly anticipated book by Francis Spufford following his previous bestseller Golden Hill. (Published ) Light Perpetual – Francis Spufford The extract that I’ve read from this book shows an addictive and all-encompassing narrative. From the reviews the narrative voice of the fictional character Joan in Animal is one to be anticipated. I was in awe of this narrative that intertwined the factual with the intimacy and scope of human feelings.

Lisa Taddeo’s first nonfiction novel ‘Three Women’ was the first book I read in 2020 and I was blown away by a narrative that was supposedly journalistic but held such a depth of emotion and urgency. Both a love story and an exploration of race and identity for two young people in London, it has been predicted to be one of the most “essential British debuts of recent years.” It tells the story of two young black people who meet at a pub in South London, both went to private schools with scholarships and felt a feeling of estrangement from their peers.

This is another novel that has been causing waves in the literary world with best selling authors such as Candice-Carty Willams, Yaa Gyasi and Diana Evans all predicting that it will be one of the most celebrated books of 2021. (Published in August of 2020 but is a predicted bestseller for 2021.) Open Water – Caleb Azumah Nelson A sentence in a review that struck me and compelled me to buy the book was that Edie, the protagonist of the book is “caught mercilessly at the intersection of capitalism, racism and sexism.” This is Raven Leilani’s debut novel, and it has been highly praised for its “lustrous” language and its acute observations of metropolitan life for a twenty-three-year-old woman.

This book is an exploration of societal tensions race, gender, and class from the perspective of a young black girl in her early twenties who gets involved with a middle-aged white man in an open marriage. I listened to an interview between Elizabeth Day and Raven Leilani and it had me scrambling to add this book to my list of books for 2021. Despite being uncertain in almost every other aspect of life, it is certain that 2021 will be an exciting year for the literary world. Following a year of reading in 2020 I kept a list of books that I’m eagerly anticipating for this year and as we face our third lockdown there is nothing like being able to look forward to a new book from a favourite author or a debut that offers a new and compelling voice. The long lockdown days of 2020 allowed me more time to read alongside an increasing need for escapism from the outside world that has seemingly become a dystopian novel in itself. Rhian Hutchings anticipates the top ten books to be published in 2021.

Patricia lockwood sally rooney