There are many, many people out there who are remembered best by that great first novel they wrote. A few classics that you will recognize include

• Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
• House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
• Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

 Some recent impressive first efforts include:

• Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
• The Beach by Alex Garland
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
• The Shack by William P. Young
• Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg

Now, for some really new releases, you might consider:

• The Faculty Club by Danny Tobey
• Tinkers by Paul Harding (winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for fiction)
• The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
• The Quickening by Michelle Hoover
• Then Came the Evening by Brian Hart.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of the possible new writers out there for readers to discover. Give somebody’s “first” a try, and maybe you’ll discover a new favorite. 

And if you have any suggestions on debut novels, please let us know in the comments below!