New York, Tokyo, Paris, and beyond: 8 novels that took me by surprise in 2024
Books to get you out of a reading slump
Wherever you’re reading this from, happy new year!
I’m finishing writing this post in the liminal space that is the week between Boxing Day and New Year—you know, the stretch of time where days seem to blur together. After spending a few days in Yorkshire with family celebrating Christmas, we’re back in London, where I’m easing into that portion of the holiday reserved for reflecting, reorganising, and preparing for a fresh start. But before diving into what’s ahead, I wanted to take a moment to look back on the year just finished.
Like many others, I’ve felt the ups and downs of 2024—but when it comes to reading, it was one of my best years in a long time. I think this has a lot to do with my rekindled love for fiction—which I’ll tell you more about in next week’s post, where I dive into my reading intentions for 2025.
What follows isn’t a roundup of my favourite books of the year—many of those I’ve already written about extensively in previous posts. Instead, this list came together almost organically, without any planning. Once I finished writing, I realised that while each book stands out as unique, they all share two key elements: strong female leads and settings so immersive they practically leap off the page.
The protagonists in these stories are multifaceted—impossible to define solely as daughters, mothers, or wives. They defy neat categorisation, embodying the complexity of coexisting truths and taking charge as the driving forces of their own narratives. In a world that often insists otherwise, these stories portray women as more than just supporting acts.
These stories and characters continue to resonate with me, even weeks after reading, and I hope you’ll find something here to add to your 2025 reading list.
84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff
Reading 84 Charing Cross Road feels like taking a stroll through Bloomsbury, meandering in and out of bookstores and cafes. This funny and heartwarming epistolary novel is based on a true story, and set between post-war London and New York. It follows Helen Hanff, a screenwriter with a limited budget (and an expensive passion for rare books), and Frank Doel, an antique book dealer in London. Their correspondence about used books, spanning from 1949 to 1968, blossoms into a long-distance, lasting friendship, and it’s pure magic. The banter is flawless, effortlessly blending tenderness and irony. I would recommend this book to anyone in a reading slump, looking to rediscover the joy of reading, or anyone feeling a bit down and in need of a reminder of life’s pleasures and the power of connection.
The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
There is nothing overtly scary in this short novel, set in a Swedish village where winter seems to stretch on endlessly. Yet, the atmosphere is unsettling, as second-guessing, gaslighting, and fear linger beneath the surface. The story follows young Katri, the village outcast, who uses deceit and lies to infiltrate the life of Anna, a wealthy elderly woman and illustrator of children’s books. Anna is also a complex character, and by the middle of the novel, the line between who is the liar and who is the honest one becomes increasingly blurred. I read this book in November, as London grew colder and darker, and finished it in a weekend. But the impressions lingered for days, probably due to the setting, a perennially snow-blanketed landscape, where light and sound seem suspended, and time flows slowly. The detailed descriptions of interiors add to the atmosphere, making the book feel like a collection of tiny illustrated vignettes, each described in minute detail. While the plot is deceitfully simple, the depth of the characters creates a constant undercurrent of tension. The unease seems to simmer quietly, making the story all the more gripping.
The English Understand Wool by Helen Dewitt
I read this brilliant novella in just a couple of hours. It follows Marguerite, a 17-year-old raised in Marrakesh by an uncompromising French mother who abhors bad taste, and a mysteriously busy English father. Grown up surrounded by servants and unimaginable luxury, Marguerite is an intriguing character, and incredibly out of touch. After the sudden disappearance of her parents, the story takes her to New York, where she navigates the opportunistic publishing world with remarkable poise as it attempts to exploit her trauma and family’s secrets. What I loved most about this book, beyond the vividly cinematic feel, was everything that was left unsaid. It invited me to fill in the blanks with my imagination, and envisioning in even richer detail both the characters and the settings.
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim
The premise of this book is simple: four London women from different backgrounds cross paths when they decide to escape the city (and, in some cases, their husbands) for a month, renting a villa on the Ligurian Riviera. From the moment they wake up in this idyllic setting, with its sparkling sea and lush gardens, everything feels more vibrant. Suddenly, everyone appears more attractive, their cheeks rosier, their problems less pressing, and their compassion greater. The cast of characters is full of contrasts in their views on life and goals—an uptight matron, a glamorous socialite, a pious moralist, and a young wife riddled with self-doubt—guaranteeing plenty of misunderstandings and entertaining interactions. With its impeccable plotting, this short novel doesn’t miss a beat. It’s pure charm from start to finish.
Businessmen As Lovers by Rosemary Tonks
On their summer holiday, friends Mimi and Caroline swap London life for a sun-soaked Italian island. They quickly settle into villa life, spending long, lazy afternoons by the pool perfecting their tans and gossiping amidst a cast of eccentric characters with too much time on their hands. You can almost smell the lemons, suntan lotion, and salty air in this upbeat and witty novella by Rosemary Tonks, the English poet, novelist, and literary it-girl of 1960s London. The writing feels modern and sophisticated, and you can tell Tonks has fun experimenting and playing with language.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Every sentence in this post-apocalyptic novel feels essential. Despite being published over thirty years ago, it resonates with striking relevance today. Set in a fictional 2024 (I didn’t know about it before starting to read it at the beginning of this year), the story unfolds on the US West Coast, where police patrol the streets, and cities are plagued by banditry, addiction, and widespread poverty. After losing everything, Lauren Olamina sets off on a journey by foot to find a chance at starting anew. This gripping dystopian tale explores resourcefulness and the resilience needed to rebuild when your world falls apart. I haven’t read the sequel yet, but it’s on my 2025 tbr list.
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
Stella St. Vincent is an accomplished copywriter leading a monotonous and safe routine in New York. After her mother’s passing, she inherits a little sum along with her mother’s wish that she uses it for a trip to Paris. From the moment Stella tries on the dress of dreams in a vintage boutique in Place des Vosges, a fairy tale-like series of serendipitous events begins to unfold. The author Ruth Reichl, is the celebrated food writer and legendary editor of Gourmet magazine, so you can expect an abundance of scrumptious meals and encounters with iconic chefs, writers, and artists. As Stella embarks on a journey of self-discovery and rekindles her passions, the story moves gracefully between moments of levity and depth, unfolding at a nostalgic, dreamy, and unhurried tempo.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
This book is by no means a hidden gem—it was pretty much in every bookstore window in London this year. Set in Tokyo, the story follows Rika, a journalist on a mission to interview Manako Kaji, a gourmand and convicted serial killer, notorious for murdering her lovers. Rika, who’s never used her tiny kitchen, quickly realises that to gain the trust of Manako, she must become fluent in her favourite subject: food. Rika has always been ambitious, and skeptical of women who give up their careers to spend their time cooking for their husbands. But as she delves into the mysterious motives behind Manako’s killings, she also begins to pay more attention to the sensual pleasures and deeper connections that come with enjoying food. I love how this story explores the conflicting themes of women's roles in society and at home, while also showing how food is used to seduce, discover, control, and make one feel more alive.
Thank you for reading :)
See you next week! xx Stefania
Buon anno a te, Stefania ❤️