Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed (HarperCollins, £12.99; Buy this book; 280pp)
The most exciting, original new fiction is coming out of Africa. Nadifa Mohamed, who was born in Somalia, has produced a first novel of assured elegance and beauty. Jama’s son is telling his father’s story, “because no one else will”. In 1935 Jama is 10, growing up in the slums of the ancient city of Aden. His earliest lessons have been in love and survival — the passionate love of his mother, as she tries to strengthen him to life on the streets. When he is left alone in the world, he sets off on an epic journey to find his father, who vanished years before. He travels through Eritrea and Sudan, to Egypt and beyond — this is also the story of a continent torn apart by world war. Watch out for this one in the prize season; it’s a stunning debut.
The Hidden Heart of Emily Hudson by Melissa Jones (Sphere, £6.99; Buy this book; 339pp)
From the surreal prologue — a man throwing a heap of beautiful gowns into the Thames — it’s clear that this is no ordinary piece of Victoriana. Emily Hudson is expelled from her New England boarding school and sent to the house of her stern uncle. Emily’s wild spirit is admired by her cousin William, but his friendship turns out to be a mixed blessing. He is jealous, controlling and more than a little sinister — and he is loosely based on Henry James, who has already appeared in novels by David Lodge and Colm T?ibin. Jones (sister of the equally talented Sadie) has taken a novelist’s liberties with the life of James’s cousin Minny Temple, who died at 24 of tuberculosis. She was passionate and ambitious, and one of the windy old genius’s greatest inspirations. In this novel she is given the life she deserved.
Ms Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Sun-lien Bynum (Atlantic, £12.99; Buy this book; 206pp)
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This is a charming book, in the true sense of the word — seldom has a heroine been so remorselessly honest, or so likeable. Ms Hempel has just embarked upon a career as a teacher, and has no real idea how she arrived at this point. Closer in age to her pupils than her colleagues, she is suffering from a severe case of overidentification. “She bought blue nail-polish; she felt tenderly towards the same boys whom her girls singled out as crush worthy.” She’s not sure about her private life, either — should she have got engaged? A rare and very funny look at the real growing up that people do in their early twenties.