Today in Bookish and Literary History, October 6

2005 Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami

The book begins as four Moroccans illegally cross the Strait of Gibraltar in an inflatable boat headed for Spain.What has driven them to risk their lives? And will the rewards prove to be worth the danger?

2015 The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson (UK)

In Jeanette Winterson’s retelling of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, we move from London, a city reeling after the 2008 financial crisis, to a storm-ravaged American city called New Bohemia. Her story is one of childhood friendship, money, status, technology and the elliptical nature of time. Written with energy and wit, this is a story of the consuming power of jealousy on the one hand, and redemption and the enduring love of a lost child on the other.

2020 Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.

• Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award (Fiction)

2020 The Perfect Nine by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

In his first attempt at the epic form, Ngũgĩ tells the story of the founding of the Gĩkũyũ people of Kenya, from a strongly feminist perspective. A verse narrative, blending folklore, mythology, adventure, and allegory, The Perfect Nine chronicles the efforts the Gĩkũyũ founders make to find partners for their ten beautiful daughters—called “The Perfect Nine” —and the challenges they set for the 99 suitors who seek their hands in marriage. The epic has all the elements of adventure, with suspense, danger, humor, and sacrifice.

• nominated for the International Booker Prize

2022 Sister Deborah by Scholastique Mukasonga

A sharp and playful critique of colonialism from the leading voice of French-Rwandan literature, animated by memories, archival specters, and powerful women

2022 The Romantic by William Boyd (UK)

Set in the 19th century, The Romantic is the story of life itself. Following the roller-coaster fortunes of a man as he tries to negotiate the random stages, adventures and vicissitudes of his existence, from being a soldier to a pawnbroker, from being a jailbird to a gigolo to a diplomat - this is an intimate yet sweeping epic.