Dazzling Debuts | 2021

Solitude and self-doubt, late nights and early mornings, years of perfecting their craft and chasing a dream. First-time novelists put themselves through all that and more to get their work out into the world. These are the stories we want to hear! It's debuts season—that very special time of year when we celebrate emerging storytellers. —The Audible Editors

Robert Jones, Jr.

"What’s the spark that ignites a person to write their first novel? This question fascinates me, so I was thrilled to get to talk with Robert Jones, Jr. about what led him to write The Prophets—his first novel and a beautiful example of lyrical, challenging historical fiction centered on the love between Samuel and Isaiah—two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation. As you’ll discover if you listen in on our conversation, Jones’s writing journey was propelled by the words of Toni Morrison: “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” Jones also listened to the voices of his ancestors that came to him in dreams—voices perfectly captured in the performance of narrator Karen Chilton—a haunting yet loving presence that permeates this unforgettable novel." ~Tricia, Audible Editor

In Conversation: Hear how The Prophets raises love above all else.

Sarah Penner

"This genre-spanning novel sits pretty in a Venn diagram of fascinating things: 18th-century London, poisonings, an underground network of women helping defend each other from brutal and violent men. First-time author Sarah Penner makes good on the allure of this premise with a compulsive structure—the story is narrated by three POVs, alternating between a contemporary timeline and, a couple of centuries earlier, a mysterious female apothecary and a precocious 12-year-old girl. Is it deeply researched historical fiction, a feminist revenge thriller, or an empowering story of sisterhood? It’s all of those things, an assured debut that serves up clever characters and an uplifting message along with a hefty dose of poison." ~Kat, Audible Editor

Te-Ping Chen

"China. Expansive, diverse, mystical, and truly a cultural force to be reckoned with. Te-Ping Chen’s Land of Big Numbers is, in her paraphrased words, a love letter to the country and its diaspora, but it certainly pulls no punches. In each of her poignant, finely crafted stories Chen confronts the political realities of the modern Chinese experience. Wavering between a spiritually precise magical realism and the cold, hard truth of everyday life, Land of Big Numbers tells big stories of the tragically mundane, the epic suffering inherent in the ordinary. We meet characters who bear the blunt end of policy head-on, characters who watch from a distance as their sisters and brothers are swallowed whole by an uncompromising system. But Chen never loses sight of the beauty at large, and as the stories coalesce they pinpoint a clear narrative of a people who share a spirit that is as fluid as it is indomitable." ~Michael, Audible Editor

Ashley Audrain

"It wouldn’t be debuts season without a buzzy psychological drama, and Ashley Audrain delivers with her debut The Push. Blythe Connor has her mind set on being a wonderful mother—the type of mother she never had—to her daughter, Violet. But as time goes on, she starts to think that something isn’t quite right with Violet. Is it in Blythe’s head, as her husband suggests, or is something more sinister going on? This is such a twisty, and at times truly uncomfortable, listen about motherhood and all its complexities. Marin Ireland’s narration is exquisite. Her voice has this calm yet creepy quality, and her performance helps blur the lines between Blythe and the histories of her own mother and grandmother, giving The Push the unreliable narrator trope I love in this kind of story." ~Katie, Audible Editor

Audicted, Season 3, Ep. 1: Debuts We Love

Welcome to a new season of Audicted. Listen in as editors Tricia, Kat, Michael, and Katie discuss some of the most impressive new voices of 2021.

Audicted Season 3, Episode 1: Debuts We Love

Caleb Azumah Nelson

"My ears pricked up when Caleb Azumah Nelson’s buzzy first novel was described as a love story in the vein of Sally Rooney’s Normal People, and with its vivid scenes and singular literary voice, that comparison is accurate. But Open Water stands apart because its perspective—that of a young Black man in southeast London—is not one we’ve heard often enough. Mastering the notoriously difficult art of writing in the second person (which, by the way, always goes down easier in audio) Nelson delivers a lot of bang with his book: dazzling prose, lively connections to Black culture and art, and an irresistible performance of his own work, which further roots the story in its South London setting. The theme—a meditation on how the self-protections required in a racist and gendered society keep a young Black man from swimming in the “open water” of love—is one I’ll be thinking about for a long time." ~Kat, Audible Editor

Jess Zimmerman

"Mythology has taken hold of our collective consciousness in recent years. Maybe it never really left. So many great mythology titles (Circe, The Silence of the Girls, A Thousand Ships) have come to Audible recently it’s hard not to see the appeal. The stories, crafted in the oral tradition, lend themselves perfectly to audio. And something about their swashbuckling adventure and prolific use of symbolism makes them widely enjoyable, and immensely relatable. Jess Zimmerman’s Women and Other Monsters is more timely than ever. She dives right into the symbolism of feminine monsters in classical mythology, and it’s that symbolism that makes potentially complicated topics not only easy to digest but fascinating and thought-provoking, as well. What’s most fascinating to me is how clearly these stories underpin our modern culture, and how widely they apply." ~Michael, Audible Editor

Jesse Q. Sutanto

"Jesse Q. Sutanto is a name you should start to familiarize yourself with—she has six books coming out in the next few years—and her adult rom-com debut, Dial A for Aunties, is at the very top of my TBLT list. Hailed as Crazy Rich Asians meets Weekend at Bernie’s (what a combo!), Dial A is replete with (accidental) murder mayhem, an #ownvoices storyline, crazy, meddling moms and aunties, and, of course, a dash of romance. I love a debut that can deliver escapism and pure fun while listening, and Sutanto’s tale is sure to hit those notes." ~Katie, Audible Editor

Dawnie Walton

"In former magazine editor Dawnie Walton’s opulent stunner, a journalist tracks the history of a fictional rock duo. The glamorous Opal is a radical punk pioneer from Detroit and, like the journalist, an independent and ambitious Black woman. She and her White partner, Nev, rise to fame in '70s New York, where a politically charged incident proves to have outsized repercussions for Opal. With its glittering milieu, provocative themes, and remarkable heroine, Opal & Nev is a knockout, and the novel’s dazzling polyphonic structure—a rock oral history for fans of Daisy Jones & The Six and Jean Stein’s Edie—was made to be listened to in audio."
~Kat, Audible Editor