--- title: Jonathan Franzen: New Novel 'Purity; Coming September 2015 description: The 'Freedom' author's new book is a departure from his previous work, his publisher said canonical: https://time.com/3589979/jonathan-franzen-new-book-purity/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-17T19:36:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:29:22.352Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: New Jonathan Franzen Novel Coming Next September og:description: 'Purity' is a departure from the 'Freedom' author's previous work, his publisher said og:url: https://time.com/3589979/jonathan-franzen-new-book-purity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3eeeb18dba9cb7e/698769263c16391181450026/jonathan-franzen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jonathan Franzen pose at Axel Springer Haus on Nov. 8, 2013 in Berlin. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Jonathan Franzen Novel Coming Next September twitter:description: 'Purity' is a departure from the 'Freedom' author's previous work, his publisher said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3eeeb18dba9cb7e/698769263c16391181450026/jonathan-franzen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New Jonathan Franzen Novel _Purity_ Arriving September 2015 ## Video: Know Right Now: U.S. Pope Visit, Ferguson Decision, NFL Drug Raids, Great Chocolate Shortage [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: U.S. Pope Visit, Ferguson Decision, NFL Drug Raids, Great Chocolate Shortage](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Wc181Ize.m3u8) (1:19)  _Published 2014-11-17. Here are the trending stories for Monday Nov. 17_  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Nov 17, 2014 7:36 PM UTC  Jonathan Franzen pose at Axel Springer Haus on Nov. 8, 2013 in Berlin. Jonathan Franzen pose at Axel Springer Haus on Nov. 8, 2013 in Berlin.Timur Emek—Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Nov 17, 2014 7:36 PM UTC Next fall is already shaping up to be a good one for lovers of literature. Jonathan Franzen will release [his fifth novel, _Purity_](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/new-jonathan-franzen-novel-purity-coming-in-september/?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&%5Fr=1), in September 2015, the author’s publisher announced Monday. Jonathan Galassi, the president and publisher of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, said that the story of a young woman working to uncover her father’s identity is somewhat of a departure from Franzen’s previous work, the New York _Times_ reports. “There’s a kind of fabulist quality to it,” Galassi said. “It’s not strict realism. There’s a kind of mythic undertone to the story.” Franzen’s last two novels, 2010’s _Freedom_ and 2001’s _The Corrections_, have each sold more than one million copies. In 2010, [Franzen was the subject of a TIME cover story](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2010185,00.html), becoming the first author to do so since Stephen King did a decade earlier. \[[_NYT_](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/new-jonathan-franzen-novel-purity-coming-in-september/?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&%5Fr=1)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3589979/jonathan-franzen-new-book-purity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3589979/jonathan-franzen-new-book-purity/"},"headline":"New Jonathan Franzen Novel Purity Arriving September 2015","datePublished":"2014-11-17T19:36:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:29:22.352Z","description":"The celebrated Freedom author's new novel is a departure from his previous work, his publisher said","url":"https://time.com/3589979/jonathan-franzen-new-book-purity/","keywords":["Books","Frozen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3eeeb18dba9cb7e/698769263c16391181450026/jonathan-franzen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3eeeb18dba9cb7e/698769263c16391181450026/jonathan-franzen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jonathan Franzen pose at Axel Springer Haus on Nov. 8, 2013 in Berlin.","caption":"Jonathan Franzen pose at Axel Springer Haus on Nov. 8, 2013 in Berlin.","creditText":"Timur Emek—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3589979/jonathan-franzen-new-book-purity/","name":"New Jonathan Franzen Novel Purity Arriving September 2015"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: U.S. Pope Visit, Ferguson Decision, NFL Drug Raids, Great Chocolate Shortage","description":"Here are the trending stories for Monday Nov. 17","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Wc181Ize/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-11-17T16:22:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Wc181Ize.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3589979/jonathan-franzen-new-book-purity/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3589979/jonathan-franzen-new-book-purity/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```