Revolver Christi by Anna Albinus
Translated by Rachel Farmer

Dedalus Books, February 2026

No one knows the exact origins of the enigmatic Revolver Christi, a holy relic with a sinister past.
When the revolver is implicated in a mysterious crime, Thomas finds himself drawn into an ever-tightening web of intrigue. A piano teacher, a photograph in the attic, an underground sect, an unexplained illness—with each thread he pulls, Thomas inches closer to unravelling the truth. But those elusive answers he craves may lie unnervingly close to home.
Subtle, subversive, and filled with a creeping sense of dread—this genre-bending novella is a bold exploration of religion, superstition and human nature.

Lázár by Nelio Biedermann

Translated by Jamie Bulloch

Maclehose Press, March 2026 // Simon & Schuster, April 2026

Read our interview with the author’s agent on the success of the book here.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Lázárs welcome their newest member. Lajos von Lázár is a baby boy with translucent skin and light-blue eyes who looks nothing like the rest of his family.

Lajos’s birth is emblematic of the many secrets, affairs, and peculiar otherworldly happenings that plague the Lázárs. As the decades go by, they will continue to fall prey to their desires, leading grand lives, and experiencing even greater tragedies as they’re swept by the tides of war and revolution that befall their country. But time and again, in the lighter years, extraordinary love and hope shine through.

Lázár is an exquisite and masterly pronouncement that a gifted young writer walks among us.

Patti Smith

Berlin Shuffle by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz

Translated by Philip Boehm

Pushkin Press, January 2026

Berlin, 1920s: a beacon of culture and hedonism, but a political mess. The streets are crowded with war veterans, beggars, prostitutes and madmen, desperately chasing any means to secure a few marks or a roof over their heads.

A bleakly comic story of struggle and discontent on the fringes of the metropolis, Berlin Shuffle is a blistering portrait of a divided society that would give way to fascism. Written when he was just twenty-two years old, Boschwitz’s first novel displays his extraordinary talent for capturing Germany’s self-destruction, which would tragically engulf him only five years later.

Botany of Madness by Leon Engler

Translated by Alexandra Roesch

New Vessel Press, November 2026

A young man is gripped by one fear: that he’ll lose his mind. In his family, mental illness has shaped lives for generations, and time in psychiatric wards has become almost a rite of passage. His battle to avoid inheriting his grandmother’s suicidal behavior, his mother’s bipolar disorder, or his father’s bouts with alcoholism and depression spurs him to flee Germany for New York, via Paris and Vienna, only to end up in just the kind of mental institution that so terrified him. But he works there as a psychologist rather than undergo treatment as a patient himself, and learns that a person is always more than a diagnosis. This picaresque novel, a potent blend of memoir and fiction, becomes a compassionate tale of reconciliation whereby the protagonist is forced to confront the question he has avoided all his life: What is normal?

Read our recommendation of the book here.

The novel is highly sophisticated, delving into fundamental existential questions and is full of inspiration to dive deeper into psychology. Nevertheless, it puts you in a good mood, its language is concrete and highly poetic at the same time, and it is so lively and entertaining.

Stern

Worlds Apart by Julia Franck

Translated by Imogen Taylor

Moth Books, February 2026

Two Germanies and two different lives are depicted in this powerful Bildungsroman of family, escape and first love

Born in East Berlin in the former GDR, Julia is eight when her actress mother uproots her family, heading West in search of a better life.

But their eventual landing in the remote countryside of Schleswig-Holstein solves no problems for this fractured household. Anna has little interest in child-rearing and the girls grow up in squalor, cold and hungry. Desperate to escape a childhood of rural poverty, neglect and shame, the lonely child becomes addicted to writing. Aged 13, she leaves her family and lodges in West Berlin. There, at sixth form, she finally encounters love.

In this novel based on her youthful diaries and early life, Julia Franck shows why and how a great writer found her voice – while never truly belonging.

One Night in Paris by Nina George

Translated by Sharon Howe

Michael Joseph, July 2025

Claire Cousteau, a respected French biologist with a troubled marriage, faces new tensions when her son Nico invites his ambitious girlfriend Julie to spend the summer with the family. Unbeknownst to them, Claire and Julie share a secret past, and their unexpected connection under the Breton sun could change all their lives forever.

Frankie by J.M Gutsch and Maxim Leo

Translated by Sharon Howe

Michael Joseph, October 2025

Frankie, a fiercely independent stray cat, unexpectedly enters the life of Richard, a grieving widower on the brink of despair. Their unlikely bond, sparked when Frankie is injured on Richard’s doorstep, may be exactly what both of them need to heal and find hope again.

Hey, Good Morning, How Are You? by Martina Hefter

Translated by Linda L Gaus

Penguin Books Ltd, April 2026

Winner of the German Book Prize 2024

Juno Isabella Flock, a dancer and performance artist caring for her ailing husband, spends her nights chatting to online love scammers, aware of the risks but drawn to the freedom these exchanges offer. When she connects with Owen_Wilson223 — Benu — the two gradually reveal their real and imagined selves, each seeing through the other’s deceptions.

Hey, Good Morning, How Are You? is a fast-moving novel about ageing, truth in the digital age, and the complexities of love and desire, ultimately exploring how we remain connected across distance and difference.

A book like a tightrope walk without a net: a sheer drop to the left, a sheer drop to the right, you want to look away but you can’t and you don’t need to, because as long as Martina Hefter is telling this story, as long as her thoughts are so luminous and life and desire are so intense, nothing can happen

German Book Prize Jury 2024

My Mother’s Silver Fox by Alois Hotschnig

Translated by Tess Lewis

Seagull Books, November 2025

Read our original recommendation here .

A gripping, deeply moving novel about one man’s search for truth and identity in the long shadow of war. Inspired by real events, Alois Hotschnig’s novel is both a fierce reckoning with history and a poignant tribute to a mother’s strength. A masterful meditation on memory and storytelling, My Mother’s Silver Fox asks whether the past can ever truly be understood—or if it will always slip through our grasp, like snow through our fingers.

My Third Life by Daniela Krien

Translated by Jamie Bulloch

MacLehose Press, June 2026

My Third Life is a powerful and captivating look at life after loss, the muddled form that adult relationships can take, and the ways in which we can grow out of suffering. It is about starting over and returning home to yourself. In lucid, crafted prose, bestselling author Daniela Krien explores what it means to meet another version of yourself later in life, and how to surrender to new realms of love and acceptance.

Read our interview with the author and translator on her previous novel The Fire here.

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Translated by Simon Pare and Edited by Ritchie Robertson

Oxford World’s Classics, March 2026

Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain (1924) is a social comedy with tragic overtones, providing a portrait of Europe in the first decades of the twentieth century. The novel recounts how an apparently simple North German engineer, Hans Castorp, comes to a tuberculosis sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, intending to visit his sick cousin, and ends up staying for seven years. He matures intellectually and emotionally, encountering love and death amid a cast of vivid characters who are portrayed with Dickensian humour and sophisticated irony, until he is jerked out of his torpor by the outbreak of the First World War.

Love and Enchantment Three Stories by Thomas Mann
Translated by Lesley Chamberlain

Pushkin Press, January 2026

This triptych of stories represents some of the finest work by the great German master, Thomas Mann. From a classic early account of artistic formation, suffused with deep melancholy, to works that explore the complex social fractures of his time, this volume showcase the range of Mann’s genius and his matchless understanding of character.
In sparkling new translations by Lesley Chamberlain, these tales take us from a tense party in Weimar Berlin to a disturbing magician’s performance in an Italian seaside town, probing the consolations and limitations of art with wit and profound irony.

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Translated by Lesley Chamberlain

Pushkin Press, January 2026

Erudite and respectable, the writer Gustav Aschenbach lives a life of structured routine. One day, as he wrestles with a stubborn bout of writer’s block, he experiences a dazzling vision that leaves him with a restless urge to abandon his settled life and travel south to Venice.

Upon arriving at his hotel, Aschenbach notices a young Polish boy of perfect, sculptural beauty: Tadzio. As he lingers, he falls into an ever-deepening infatuation with the youth, whose curled blond hair and porcelain face fill him with rapture. Ignoring whispered warnings of a cholera outbreak in the city, Aschenbach chooses to remain close to Tadzio, his mind consumed by an increasingly feverish desire.

Classical in structure yet roiled by disturbing passion, Death in Venice is a profoundly powerful story of one man’s undoing.

The Last Movement by Robert Seethaler

Translated by Charlotte Collins

Canongate, April 2026

Read our interview with the author here.

It is 1911, and a man boards a ship at the crowded docks in New York City. As he steps on board, the memories begin flooding back, and we learn he is no ordinary man, and this is no ordinary journey.

This transatlantic sailing is the poignant final journey of Gustav Mahler, a renowned composer at the end of his life. He considers the joy and loss he experienced with his wife, Alma, the meaning of art, and the significance of legacy. This culminates in a humbling meditation on the enduring impact of our choices.

Favorita by Michelle Steinbeck

Translated by Jen Calleja

Faber, February 2026

Fila’s mother Magdalena caused chaos every time she appeared in her daughter’s life. Fila hasn’t seen her in years, not since she disgraced their family by advertising her brothel in the newspaper.

Now, news comes from Italy: Magdalena is dead. It’s time for Fila to finally face her family history.

Fila collects her mother’s ashes and sets out, urn in tow, to retrace the whirlwind life of the woman last known as Favorita. Part hallucinatory road trip, part feminist revenge fantasy: Favorita is a wild, furious and mischievous novel from an incendiary new European talent.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven

Penguin Classics, August 2026

Click here to read our interview with Tim Heyman, the Managing Director of the B. Traven literary estate

Deep in the wild heart of Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains lies treasure beyond reckoning, just waiting to be found by those who know where to look. Or so believe three Americans – Dobbs, Curtin and Howard – down on their luck and desperate for a way out. Teaming up on a perilous quest to hunt for gold, they soon find their fragile alliance tested, both by a band of local outlaws, and by their own greed. First published in 1927 and made into a classic film by John Huston, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a savagely ironic, anarchic cult novel about the price of ambition and the limits of endurance.

Clearing by Iris Wolff

Translated by Ruth Martin

Moth Books, June 2026

Read our recommendation of Clearing here.

‘When are you coming?’

Four words on a postcard from Kato lure Lev from the village where both grew up under the harsh Ceausescu regime. When borders opened, the outcast girl could not wait to leave. But Lev stayed behind. He felt bound to their remote village in the Carpathians, to the forest and places that formed him.

Journeying into the past, their relationship unfurls through forgotten incidents, underground resistance, repression and adolescence to their first meeting as children – individual moments that illuminate a life.

Set on the periphery of Europe, this award-winning novel, now translated by Ruth Martin, beautifully depicts what it means to belong. A bestseller in Germany and shortlisted for the 2024 German Book Prize.

The Emperor Incognito by Monika Czernin

Translated by Jamie Bulloch

Haus Publishing, April 2026

The first complete account of Emperor Joseph II’s undercover journey through his kingdom

Travelling incognito, and without the customary pomp and entourage, the young emperor Jospeh II travels through the Holy Roman Empire and his Hapsburg lands to see with his own eyes how his subjects live, suffer, and starve.

The Emperor Incognito tells the story of an extraordinary man, far ahead of his time and in an age of great upheaval, who spent a quarter of his twenty-five-year reign on the road. The result of his titanic efforts, despite his own admission (as inscribed on his tombstone) that he ‘failed everything he undertook’, was the foundation of a more modern Austrian monarchy, in a Europe in which progress was no longer determined solely by its rulers.

Organ Speak by Julia Enders

Translated by Jamie Bulloch

HarperOne and New River, May 2026

The international bestselling author of Gut returns with a spellbinding voyage through the human body

In Organ Speak, Giulia Enders guides us through our inner landscape, introducing us to the unseen heroes of our bodies. She shows how, for thousands of years, our organs have responded to challenges with astonishing intelligence – and that they have much to teach us: What, for example, can the immune system tell us about our need to feel safe? How does the process of wound-healing mirror emotional recovery? What do we truly need to thrive?

With vivid stories and the latest science, this book not only opens our eyes to the wonders within but inspires us to approach our bodies with greater mindfulness and trust.

Notes from Führer HQ by Felix Hartlaub
Translated by Michael Hofmann

Pushkin Press, August 2026

As a young writer of great promise, Felix Hartlaub disappeared in the final days of the Second World War, leaving behind diaries and fragments that offer a striking portrait of wartime life. From 1941, posted to Nazi military headquarters as a historian, he privately recorded disaffected, clear-eyed observations, now translated into English for the first time by Michael Hofmann. Moving from Ukraine to the Eastern Front and a surreal command train, these writings capture the absurdity and turmoil of life within Hitler’s war machine through a perceptive, disillusioned eye.

New Beginnings: Why Change Is Hard and How We Can Achieve It by Stefan Klein
Translated by David Shaw

Scribe, February 2026

Read our original recommendation of the book here.

In New Beginnings, Stefan Klein delves into the most pressing problems facing our world — from the climate crisis to the rapid development of artificial intelligence — and investigates why individuals and societies often resist necessary changes, despite knowing the risks of inaction.

Hannah Arendt A Life of the Mind by Thomas Meyer
Translated by Shelley Frisch

Penguin Press, August 2026

The definitive, long-awaited intellectual biography of Hannah Arendt, one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century.

Drawing on newly discovered and previously overlooked archival materials from Germany, where Arendt was born in 1906, and the United States, where she became a citizen in 1950, Thomas Meyer traces her journey from Königsberg to Paris—where she fled after imprisonment in 1933—and on to New York in 1941. He illuminates her formative years, the development of her major works, and her lifelong philosophical engagement with Martin Heidegger, whose Nazism remained a profound challenge for her. Focusing on her years in Paris and her early time in the United States leading up to The Origins of Totalitarianism (1955), Meyer offers both a meticulous reconstruction of her life and a compelling reassessment of her legacy.

At a time of political polarization and renewed debates about freedom, responsibility, and truth, Arendt’s ideas resonate more strongly than ever. Meyer’s account is both groundbreaking and incisive, exploring not only her life but the enduring significance of her work today.

Short Circuit by Wolf Haas

Translated by Jamie Bulloch

Harper Via, June 2026

A clever, electrifying puzzle of a novel inspired by M. C. Escher’s optical illusions, Short Circuit interweaves two mirrored plots — a man waiting for an electrician and a mafia informant entering witness protection — that gradually converge in a mind-bending finale. Franz Escher passes the time reading about Elio Russo, a jailed Mafia witness fearing for his life, who in turn reads about a man named Franz Escher waiting for an electrician, creating a looping, self-reflexive structure. As these narratives intertwine, each begins to solve the other, resulting in a brilliantly inventive, playful detective story that, as Der Spiegel notes, is “highly entertaining… not just one book, but at least three in one,” with form and structure integral to its dazzling effect.

Darling Mine by Romy Hausmann

Translated by Jamie Bulloch

Quercus Books, January 2026

Hausmann is a force to be reckoned with

David Baldacci

Julie Nowak has been missing since 7th September 2003. It broke her family. Only her father, Theo, doesn’t give up on her. On the 20th anniversary of her disappearance, Theo is contacted by podcaster Liv. She’s come across a new lead. But if Theo wants to find out the truth he must be quick before his progressing dementia smothers everything in darkness.

Who has taken his daughter? Why does Julie’s ex-boyfriend Daniel keep his mother’s bedroom door locked, years after she passed away? And is there anything more gruesome than the uncertainty of not knowing what happened to your own child?

Time to Split by Daniel Fehr
Translated by Marshall Yarbrough
NorthSouth Books, March 2026

Frog learns to gather his courage and embrace the unexpected in this thoughtful picture book from Daniel Fehr.

For Frog, every day is the same: a bath, a stroll, and a glass of banana juice. That is, until Frog receives an unexpected visitor who changes everything . . .

This heartfelt story urges readers of all ages to find the courage to try new things and discover all that the world has to offer.

Fabulous Creatures: Legendary Animals From Around the World by Cornelia Funke
Translated by Anna Schmitt Funke
NorthSouth Books, March 2026

From New York Times bestselling fantasy author Cornelia Funke comes a bright and bold introduction to the world’s extraordinary creatures—perfect for the youngest readers.

Dragons, unicorns, and thunderbirds are only a few of the fabulous creatures young children will meet in this book!

Save Me – Maxton Hall Series #1 by Mona Kasten

Translated by Rachel Ward

Penguin, July 2025

Money, glamour, luxury, power – Ruby Bell couldn’t be less interested in these things if she tried.

As a scholarship student at one of England’s most prestigious private schools, Maxton Hall College, all she wants is to work hard and secure a place at Oxford. She keeps her distance from everyone, especially the extremely handsome James Beaufort, ringleader of the school’s hard-partying elite.

But Ruby can’t keep a low profile forever. When a secret about the Beauforts puts her on James’ radar, they are forced to face each other every day. Soon, Ruby finds herself drawn into his world of glamour, extravagant parties, and the looming weight of the Beaufort name in ways she never could have imagined.

Save You Maxton Hall Series #2 by Mona Kasten

Translated by Rachel Ward

Penguin, September 2025

The second book in Mona Kasten’s multi-million copy internationally bestselling Maxton Hall series that inspired the Amazon Prime TV show.

Save Us Maxton hall Series #3 by Mona Kasten

Translated by Rachel Ward

Penguin, November 2025

The third instalment in Mona Kasten’s Maxton Hall series – the multi-million copy international bestselling series.

Selma–The Story of a Stellar Spider by Tini Malina
Translated by Tammi Reichel
NorthSouth Books, March 2026
A standout new picture book talent spins the story of a one-of-a-kind spider with an unstoppable artistic spirit.

Selma is no ordinary spider. Most spiders make webs to catch flies, but not Selma. She wants to capture the Splendor of the Universe. But it’s hard to reach the stars from so close to the ground!

My Friend the Paintbrush: The Colorful World of Marcus Pfister by Marcus Pfister
Translated by David Henry Wilson
NorthSouth Books, March 2026
Dive into the colorful world of Marcus Pfister, the creator of the bestselling Rainbow Fish series, with this picture book homage to all things art!

The paintbrush can be used as a vehicle to express a huge range of forms and features, expressions and emotions! Marcus Pfister, creator of the internationally bestselling Rainbow Fish series, uses rollicking rhymes and a range or artistic styles to introduce readers new and familiar to a colorful cast of characters from across his oeuvre. Backmatter also includes inspiration for his many backlist titles and his creative techniques.

Jury recommendations: Spring 2026

Enjoy in English Spring 2026

The Pulse of Spring Literature: The Leipzig Book Fair Prize

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