There’s something irresistible about a fish-out-of-water story — where characters find themselves wildly out of their element. After all, we instantly know it will all come down to a high-stakes choice:
Cling to their old ways, gasping and flapping on the shore, or learn to adapt and walk tall.
We love rooting for these characters, because every one of us can relate to the challenge of stepping outside our comfort zones, from Ted Lasso’s first day of a new job (and a new sport, in a new country) to David Sedaris’s hilarious ex-pat essays in Me Talk Pretty One Day. Whether the story begins as a purposeful adventure or a wild pivot beyond the character’s control, one thing is certain: It won’t be easy. And we’ll learn what we’re made of along the way.
My latest novel, The Next Thing You Know (St. Martin’s Press), follows a cult-favorite musician as he’s forced to cancel his tour, tear up his record contract, and leave his rock star lifestyle behind when he physically loses the ability to play his guitar. For him, it’s “normal” everyday life that feels unfamiliar and foreign — and writing his emotional fall from grace made me realize how deeply these fish-out-of-water moments can truly make or break us.
Here are 7 other compelling new releases that put characters to the test on dry land:
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian (Doubleday)
This ensemble cast of Hollywood elite friends and spouses seems on top of the world — until they find themselves on a safari gone terribly wrong. What starts as a glamorous vacation turns into a fight for survival in the blink of an eye, and we realize with horror how ill-prepared they are for the journey ahead.
The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani
The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani (Dutton)
At the root of this epic, multi-generational family saga is an Italian nurse sent into service at a convent in Scotland on the brink of World War II, forced to leave everything (and everyone) she knows and loves back home.
Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah (Mariner Books)
Before she was Jackie Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier spent a college year abroad in the postwar Paris of 1949 — free for the first time from the pressures and expectations of New York society, “catapulted into an intoxicating new world.” Ann Mah’s latest is the immersive, fictionalized account of an influential year in the life of an icon.
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult (Ballantine Books)
In March 2020, a vacationing American finds herself on lockdown in the Galapagos Islands at the start of the pandemic — and unable to return home. So begins Picoult’s beautiful story with a jaw-dropping twist guaranteed to change the way you think about how we’ve all weathered these unsettling years since the word changed.
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
The Guncle by Steven Rowley (Putnam)
When two children are sent to live with their guncle (gay uncle) in Palm Springs after the death of their mother, it’s temporary — just until their father gets out of rehab. But the impact on all their lives, by turns laugh-out-loud funny and heartwarming, is quite permanent.
The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey
The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey (Gallery Books)
This historical novel is a portrait of women linked across generations by an heirloom — and by circumstances that have taken a wildly unexpected turn. From a suddenly widowed socialite struggling to save the family estate, to a runaway bride who escapes to the Virgin Islands, each must forge her own path, discovering strength she didn’t know she had.
I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin
I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin (Lake Union Publishing)
Who doesn’t love a good road trip story? We’re all fish out of the water once we venture so far from home, and Garvin captures the hilarity, connection, and redemption inherent when the journey is shared between longtime friends.
