We are thrilled to reveal the cover–designed by Alex Merto with art by Clayton Cotterell–to one of our most anticipated books coming in 2021: Thomas Grattan’s debut novel The Recent East, an extraordinary saga following a mother and two teens as they navigate a new life in East Germany. Etaf Rum, author of A Woman Is No Man, says that “Thomas Grattan’s writing on family, displacement, and queerness is so well wrought, intimate, and mesmerizing.” We agree.

Read more about (and pre-order) The Recent East, which we’ll publish on March 9, 2021, here, and check out some of the very nice things already being said about the book below.

“Between life and death, as The Recent East would have it, we move ‘from place to memory.’ This remarkably humane first novel manages the quantum feat of restoring Cold War-era Germany to both categories at once. Yet in his enormous sensitivity, his feel for character, and his wry humor, Thomas Grattan also pins down precisely our own contentious place in history - our own riven and intimate selves. All in all: Ein Wunder!” –Garth Risk Hallberg, author of City on Fire

“I fell in love with The Recent East, which is absolutely spellbinding . . . I will be pushing it in the hands of everyone I know.” –Etaf Rum, author of A Woman is No Man

“In this multi-generational, multi-continent journey, the threads of a family fray and interweave against the backdrop of immigration and political change, yielding moments of profound isolation and profound intimacy. Grattan has an enthralling voice and a deep understanding of the subtleties of human relationships. The Recent East is a bold and tender debut.” –Helen Phillips, author of The Need

“An epic that blossoms more than sprawls, The Recent East is capacious in its scope and generously, exquisitely controlled in its pacing and language. This is not a novel that falls through on its promises; every sentence renews the possibility of entering the world of this book, every page offers a new seduction.” –Jordy Rosenberg, author of Confessions of the Fox