Six months into the year, here is a Platform edit of six novels we thoroughly enjoyed so far. Yesteryear hit the shelves and took the literary world by storm, while Tayari Jones’ powerful comeback already has us waiting for more. Karan Mahajan and Daniyal Mueenuddin’s depictions of South Asia, alongside new work from Asako Yuzuki and Douglas Stuart, have already made 2026 a memorable literary year.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
A debut with the perfect elevator pitch, Yesteryear follows Natalie, a ‘trad wife’ influencer who seemingly has the perfect life and family. This illusion of perfection comes falling down as she is transported to a life that isn’t hers, one in the 1800s forced to confront the realities behind the romanticised version of the past she has built her identity around.
Kin by Tayari Jones
After an eight year long break, the author of An American Marriage returns with a book set in the deep South of Louisiana, following Annie and Vernice who have been friends since birth. Her writing is as powerful as ever, immersing readers in a world shaped by race, memory, and community. At its heart, the novel is a celebration of women supporting women.
This Is Where The Serpents Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Much like Daniyal Mueenuddin's earlier work, this novel operates as a series of interconnected narratives; four extended stories that converge into a single, mesmerizing whole. Covering fifty years of Pakistan's history from above and below, he illuminates both the privileged lives of feudal landowners as well as their lower-caste house servants and estate managers. It is certainly a modern classic in the making.
The Complex by Karan Mahajan
The Indian family rarely exists in isolation. Their histories, relationships and the cities they live in, all come into play over time, in defining a family for who they are. In The Complex, Karan Mahajan, author of the acclaimed novels Family Planning and The Association of Small Bombs, the latter a finalist for the National Book Award delves into the grammar of family life in The Complex, through a sprawling family saga that comes to life against the social and political landscape of Delhi. Read our interview with Karan here.
Hooked by Asako Yuzuki
An expertly crafted, disturbingly realistic novel about modern womanhood, Hooked focuses primarily on an obsessive relationship between an outwardly perfect, yet lonely trading company employee and a popular housewife blogger. Asako Yuzuki explores with acute insight the ache for connection and how lives can slowly spiral out of control.
John of John by Douglas Stuart
Booker winner Douglas Stuart returns with a novel Set on a Scottish island that follows a father and son who couldn’t be more different: the Calvinist father, John, devout, divorced and desperate to keep everything the same, and the gay son, John-Calum, who wants to be himself but feels stuck after finishing college. And yet, beneath the surface, the two are so alike it’s almost unsettling. It is a story about duty, patience and the transformative power of truth. Read our interview with Douglas here.
Words Platform Desk
Date 15.6.2026