There's An Ayn Rand Novel Coming in 2015

If you’re contemplating reading Atlas Shrugged for the fifth time, you can rest easy — the New American Library (NAL) just announced that they will be publishing Ayn Rand’s 1934 novel Ideal in July 2015. New Ayn Rand for you to read? Yes, really.

The original version of the book was found by a publishing manager at the Ayn Rand Institute when he was digitizing the author’s archives. Rand wrote Ideal when she was in her late 20s, but, since she wasn’t satisfied with the book, she turned it into a play instead, which made its New York debut in 2010 — nearly 70 years after the wrote it. Now NAL, a division of Penguin Random House, is publishing the novel and the play together, so fans of the mega-bestselling writer can clear their schedules and make some space on their bookshelves next to their tattered and worn copies of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.

Ideal is about an actress accused of murder who visits six of her most ardent fans to ask for help. If you didn’t know it was written by Rand, it might seem like a fun, campy summer beach read. Chances are there will be some big ideas in the book. After all, she isn’t known for writing pulpy romance novels. Or maybe she shelved it because it was missing those big ideas that eventually made her famous.

Through her writing, Rand created the philosophy of “Objectivism,” which, according to the Ayn Rand Institute, has “inspired individuals around the world to discard convention and pursue a better life.” Her work has influenced politicians, artists, and thinkers, including Paul Ryan, Ron and Rand Paul (obvi), Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Mark Cuban, and…Vince Vaughn. That’s a pretty eclectic set of groupies.

If you’re a Rand fan, or if you’re just curious about what all the fuss is about and a book about a murderess actress sounds like a fun read, add it to your summer beach reads.