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National Book Award for Fiction longlist includes 'The Need,' 'Trust Exercise'

By Annie Martin

Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The 2019 National Book Award for Fiction longlist includes the thriller The Need and the novel Trust Exercise.

The National Book Foundation announced 10 contenders for the award in a press release Friday.

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"It's the final list! We are absolutely thrilled to announce the ten books on the Longlist for the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction. #NBAwards," the organization tweeted Friday.

The Need is a thriller by Helen Phillips that centers on a paleobotanist who is confronted by a intruder in her home. The experiences causes the character to question the foundations of reality and motherhood.

Trust Exercise, by Susan Choi, centers on two students at a performing arts high school who fall in love. The book leaves the reader questioning what happens to the pair's relationship.

The other nominations are:

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, the first installment of a trilogy by Marlon James that incorporates African mythology in a story about a lost boy

The Other Americans, a novel by Laila Lalami that begins with a Moroccan immigrant killed under suspicious circumstances and follows the witnesses and survivors' quest for answers.

Disappearing Earth, a book by Julia Phillips about two missing Russian sisters that explores class, gender and identity.

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The Nickel Boys, a novel by 2016 National Book Award winner Colson Whitehead that follows two teens in the Jim Crow South as they attend a vicious reform school.

Sabrina & Corina: Stories, a short story collection by Kali Fajardo-Anstine set in Denver that focuses on Latinas of indigenous descent.

Black Light: Stories, a short story collection by Kimberly King Parsons that explores the darker and grittier sides of Texas.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, the debut novel from Ocean Vuong about a Vietnamese immigrant family. The book challenges ideas about identity and masculinity.

Fleishman is in Trouble, a book by Taffy Brodesser-Akner that addresses male privilege and divorce.

The 2019 National Book Award finalists will be announced Oct. 8. Winners will be announced at the National Book Awards ceremony and benefit dinner Nov. 20 in New York.

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