* Free Love, by Tessa Hadley -- Somewhere I've read that every novel is about whether life is worth living. I'm not sure that's true about every novel (Don Quixote? The Phantom Tollbooth?) but this book definitely is. Phyllis Fischer blows up her perfect life, provoking the question of how much damage you can do in pursuit of your true self before it becomes unforgivable.
* Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel -- A high-concept cartwheel through history, bringing together characters and ideas from Mandel's previous novels Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel. Is life worth living? Yes, Mandel says, yes yes yes.