Haruki Murakami’s First Novel in Six Years is Coming in November

It’s been awhile since we got new Murakami, but we won’t have to wait much longer: Haruki Murakami’s first novel in six years will hit shelves this fall. The City and Its Uncertain Walls will be published this November by Harvill Secker, a novel billed as “an ode to books and to the libraries that house them.”

Murakami’s last novel Killing Commendatore published in 2018, the story of an unnamed portrait painter who goes on a journey across Japan after his wife leaves him quite suddenly. He winds up in the home of a former painter where he hopes to find inspiration to paint again. In the attic of the home, he finds a previously unseen painting by the artist, a discovery that sends him on a perilous journey.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls will take readers back to a town they remember, “a place where a Dream Reader reviews dreams and where our shadows become untethered from our selves.” Harvill Secker calls it “a love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, and a parable for these strange post-pandemic times… a singular and towering achievement by one of modern literature’s most important writers.”

The City and Its Uncertain Walls will publish on on November 26, 2024.

If you’re new to Murakami, here’s a reading pathway to get you started.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.