https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/26/10-best-debut-novelists-2020-paul-mendez-abi-dare-anappara-elaine-feeney-beth-morrey-douglas-stuart

All first-time authors dream of becoming bestsellers. The Observer’s past picks have included Sally Rooney and Jessie Burton – who among this year’s crop will make it big?

Spring is a time for new beginnings in the books world, especially when it comes to fiction – not so much for established authors, who tend to unveil their new work in the autumn, as for fiction debutants hoping to become the next Sally Rooney or Jessie Burton.

For the seventh year running the Observer New Review has chosen a select group of first-time British and Irish novelists we believe will make their mark. Our selection procedure was rigorous, with all eligible novels being scrutinised for readability and literary merit by a handful of editors on the New Review. And the class of 2020 looks particularly promising. Among those who made the grade were a poet, a journalist, a former teacher and an actor. The subjects they take on range from modern love in Hong Kong, child kidnapping in India and the Japanese marriage breakup industry to the brutality of Thatcher’s Britain and murder in a women’s refuge.