Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar is an electrifying, funny, and wholly original novel that heralds the arrival of an essential new voice in contemporary fiction. The story follows Cyrus Shams, a newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, who is guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings on a remarkable search for a family secret. This journey leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum.

Cyrus grapples with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother's plane was shot down over the skies of the Persian Gulf in a senseless accident, and his father's life in America was circumscribed by his work at a factory farm. As a drunk, an addict, and a poet, Cyrus's obsession with martyrs drives him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death and toward his mother, through a painting that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

Martyr! is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning—in faith, art, ourselves, and others.

North Woods, a novel by Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason, is a sweeping tale that unfolds within the walls of a single house in the woods of New England. The narrative spans across centuries, weaving together the lives of its inhabitants—both human and nonhuman—in a genre-blurring display of storytelling magic.

The story begins with two young lovers who flee from a Puritan colony, unaware that their simple cabin in the woods is destined to become a nexus of remarkable lives. From an English soldier who forsakes the battlefields to cultivate apples, to spinster twins who navigate the trials of war and famine, the house witnesses an extraordinary array of characters. These include a crime reporter who stumbles upon an ancient mass grave, a lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a mysterious stalking panther, and even a lusty beetle.

As these inhabitants encounter the wonder and mystery of their surroundings, they come to understand that the vibrant past is not as distant as it seems. North Woods is not only a mesmerizing novel about secrets and destinies but also presents a unique perspective on the world. It poses the eternal question: How do we continue to exist, even after we are gone? With its deep exploration of history, nature, and the connections between us, North Woods is a work that truly captures the magical ways in which we are intertwined with our environment and each other.

Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon.

Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, and charged—a place where she feels desperate to be accepted.

As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence.

The Girls is a spellbinding and arresting coming-of-age story that paints an indelible portrait of girls, and the women they become, during a time when everything can go horribly wrong.