In her debut novel, “The Outcast,” British writer Sadie Jones offers a tale set during that time in England’s history between the poverty of post World War II and the affluence ushered in during the late 1950s. The novel centers on Lewis Aldridge, a young man being released after a two-year stint in prison for arson. He returns to the upper class neighborhood of his childhood, where “tennis and cocktail parties, the sleek rituals of suburban life, mask darker realities.” Can he fit in again? Does he really want to? This novel has received excellent early reviews.

Also new this week is “Binu and the Great Wall: The Myth of Ming” by Su Tong. This new tale reinterprets the classic Chinese myth of the young girl whose tears collapsed the Great Wall of China. Binu is a village girl shunned because she continually breaks the rules against crying. But when she finally marries, she shows remarkable determination in finding her husband when he is taken and forced to work as slave labor on construction of the Great Wall. Also new in fiction is “Brett McCarthy: Work In Progress” by Maria Padian. This debut novel, aimed at young adults (and with a great title) centers on the titular character, a hero on the soccer field but a girl who is constantly putting her foot in her mouth. Hmm. Sounds like quite a few adults, as well.

Sen Arlen Specter has also released his autobiographical book, “Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate,” written with Frank J. Scaturro. The book, obviously from the title, documents his battle against Hodgkins disease.