Morgan Talty burst onto the scene with his 2022 debut story collection, Night of the Living Rez, which earned him the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and an honor from the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 program, among other awards. He returns with his debut novel which follows Charles Lamosway, who lives across the river from Maine's Penobscot Reservation where his neighbor and, unbeknownst to her, daughter, Elizabeth resides. While Charles copes with caring for an ailing elderly mother and a bighearted but alcoholic dear friend, hauntings from his past continue to resurface and soon he must contend with the secret he's been hiding for years.

We've selected Fire Exit as one of five notable books coming out next season that will be featured in our First Dibs Editors Salon, taking place virtually on May 1 at 7pm ET. Learn more and RSVP.

We are honored to have the book's acquiring editor, Masie Cochran (Interim Publisher and Editorial Director, Tin House), join us at the salon. She shared this personal note about the book as a special preview just for Tertulia readers.

Fire Exit by Morgan Talty (June 4)

Working with Morgan Talty has been one of the great honors of my career. We started off with his wonderful short story collection Night of the Living Rez which established him as a powerful new voice in literary fiction. And it's been a true joy to follow up this incredible effort with his debut novel Fire Exit.

I'll never forget the first time I read Fire Exit—it is such a deeply felt demonstration of the effects of a history riddled with exploitation and neglect, but it also brings into sharp focus the duty to pass down more than trauma, to impart love from this generation to the next. What a true gift this novel is.

When I asked Morgan about what he hopes readers will take away from reading his novel he answered, “Literature should make us feel more alive, and that is what I’m trying to do here: to bring us all to life a bit more, to bring us closer. We are nothing without each other.” I couldn't agree more.

– Masie Cochran, Interim Publisher and Editorial Director, Tin House