Our Favourite Books Of Fall 2023
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
Flor can predict a person’s death down to the day. When she plans a living wake to celebrate her long life, her three sisters are suspicious—who’s really going to die? A richly detailed Dominican-American saga told from the point of view of a family’s matriarchs. (Out now)
Like Every Form of Love by Padma Viswanathan
In this unique book—part memoir, part true crime and part biography—Viswanathan tracks the tale of her eccentric neighbour Phillip and his mesmerizing bank-robbing stepmother, Del, from the B.C. interior to Cuba and back. (Out now)
Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare
Jess and Cassie meet in college in the late ’90s and forge a strong bond but are later split apart by tragedy. Clare celebrates the intricacies and importance of female friendship, so read this with your bestie—and tissues. (Out September 5)
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
A working-class man claims he is the long-lost heir to a fortune; the ensuing trial captivates Victorian London in this meticulously researched historical drama by British powerhouse Smith. She explores identity, the manipulation of truth and Anglo-Jamaican relations.(Out September 5)
Rouge by Mona Awad
Lonely dress shop clerk Belle loses her mother in a mysterious accident and is thrust into the cultish world of an eerie wellness spa soon after. The award-winning Awad spins a spooky fairy tale about beauty, mortality and our obsession with youth. (Out September 12)
Related: Emma Donoghue On The Inspiration Behind Her Gripping New Historical Romance
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright
Nell and her mother, Carmel, live in the shadow of Carmel’s famous Irish poet father—but his darkness will not define them. When Nell leaves home, both women learn new truths about love in all its forms. Enright’s prose is poetic. (Out September 12)
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
A tense, gripping thriller about three women connected by a serial killer in the 1970s. In the present day, a threatening letter brings two of them together to seek truth and justice. Dark and powerful. (Out September 19)
What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim
A moving, suspenseful drama about secrets in a Korean-American family. John Kim’s wife, Sunny, has been missing for a year when he finds a dead man—who’s carrying a letter addressed to her—in the backyard. (Out October 10)
Related: Your Official Summer 2023 Reading List
What Wild Women Do by Karma Brown
Former socialite Eddie founded a camp for burgeoning feminists to run wild, then she disappeared. Decades later, struggling screenwriter Rowan is drawn to solving the mystery. A dual-timeline page-turner with themes of self-discovery, redemption and sisterhood. (Out October 24)
Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Alice and Sadie are long-time best friends now living apart after college. When Sadie asks her mother, Celine, to attend Alice’s play in her stead, Celine feels an attraction that flares into an affair. A sexy, emotional debut that’s garnering buzz. (Out November 28)
The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose
A follow-up to The Maid, the million-book-selling mystery debut by Toronto-based Prose. This time around, Molly Gray, the devoted head maid at a five-star hotel, gets entangled in the death of a famous author. (Out November 28)
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Alicia Cox Thomson has worked for 20 years as an editor, writer and content producer for some of Canada's biggest lifestyle brands. Today, she writes about culture, business and the arts for Chatelaine, the Globe and Mail and more. She also speaks about books as a columnist for CBC Radio's The Next Chapter.