Private Rites by Julia Armfield
This apocalyptic literary horror novel is from the author of Our Wives Under the Sea. In a futuristic retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear, three sisters grapple with the mundane horrors of life during an apocalypse. Years of unending rain have reshaped the continents, toppled governments, and brought back a desperate kind of ancient religion. Sisters Agnes, Irene, and Isla have grown apart under the stress of the changing planet, but the death of their architect father forces them to reunite to sort through the famous glass house he built, full of secrets and memories they’d rather forget. Julia Armfield writes haunting queer characters with a creeping sense of dread that you feel in your bones. —Susie Dumond