Fiction
For better, for worse: Death Do Us by Ruthy Mason reviewed
Underwhelmed by the prospect of her future marriage, Bea focuses on the past instead, reconnecting with a former boyfriend and reliving dark events from her undergraduate life. Past and present blur uneasily together and the reader is kept cleverly in suspense
A succession of selves: How Do People Stay the Same by Mark Bowles reviewed
A sad novel with funny moments that tells its story via a series of reverse-ordered journal entries. First, the happy ending, then a progression backwards through more troubling times, getting remarkably close to the messy truth of life along the way
Few writers have covered their tracks as successfully as Anita Brookner
The distinguished art historian and novelist shredded as many private papers as she could, leaving her biographer the daunting task of piecing together clues from published material
Language lessons: Taipei Story, by Rebecca Kuang, reviewed
Lily Chen, a Chinese-American Yale student, hopes to master Mandarin on a summer course in Taiwan. But matters soon begin to unravel in this idiosyncratic coming-of-age story
Sad girl story: Sophie, Standing There, by Meg Mason, reviewed
Thirtysomething Sophie Pattison worships the celebrated author Lilac Dunne from afar. But what will happen when the two actually meet at a literary festival?
An excellent spy: Cold Sunset, by William Boyd, reviewed
Tasked with exfiltrating a secret agent from Moscow, Gabriel Dax shows himself as competent as ever: good at following people, good at laying traps and good at shooting to kill
A world full of artifice: Life of M, by Rachel Cusk, reviewed
Cusk’s beautiful actress protagonist claims to shun the advantages of fame – but fabrication and privilege are essential to her glide through life
From housemaid to monster: The Mare, by Angharad Hampshire, reviewed
Drawing on the real-life story of Hermine Braunsteiner, a former Ravensbrück camp guard, Hampshire convincingly demonstrates how apparently harmless people can become brutal murderers
Always second but actually invincible: Agrippa, by Robert Harris, reviewed
The Roman general’s inner life is a blank, as Harris admits – but filling it with memories of military campaigns and aqueduct-building doesn’t make for the liveliest story
Shots in the dark: Fatal Love, by Louisa Treger, reviewed
The tragic story of Ruth Ellis, hanged in 1955 for murdering her abusive lover, is retold in gripping fictional form
The mind-altering miracle of the novel in Britain, from A to Z
Philip Hensher reminds us of the transformative power of fiction over the centuries – from Ann Radcliffe’s Gothic experiments to Zadie Smith’s bone-deep knowledge of the form
A heady cocktail of coquetry and extortion: The Millionaire Waltz, by Anthony Quinn, reviewed
Edie Greenlaw, model, actress and socialite in 1920s London, is drawn into a case of homosexual blackmail after trying to help a friend
A question of identity: Passage, by Colin Thubron, reviewed
A subtle novella involving a desperate act of betrayal in the Valley of the Kings is also an investigation of who we really are and what will remain of us after death
Together and apart: How to Make a Woman, by Marie Darrieussecq, reviewed
Studious, kindly Rose and Solange, a rebellious rule-breaker, have been friends from childhood. But will their bond survive their wildly different hopes and ambitions?
A house of secrets: Where Are the Kings, by Donal Ryan, reviewed
When his mother’s suicide and father’s insanity leave young Jack effectively orphaned, other family members take him in. But will he always be haunted by whispers of scandal and ‘bad blood’?
An exhilarating chase: The Runner, by Scarlett Thomas, reviewed
Modern capitalism is this philosophical thriller’s dominant theme, with the protagonist on the run from assassins chasing a Bitcoin bounty
Journey of discovery: Beginning Middle End, by Valeria Luisella, reviewed
On a road trip to Sicily, a recent divorcee and her daughter make a new start of sorts, but one fringed by darkness both past and present
Into the wild: Country People, by Daniel Mason, reviewed
A Californian family, newly arrived in Vermont, face the harsh realities of the countryside and deeply alarming neighbours
Whimsical defence mechanisms: Sail Away Land, by Ben Pester, reviewed
Facing nightmarish scenarios, Pester’s characters respond with twee, online-inflected stoicism intended to soften an unforgiving world
A broken bond: Gaining Ground, by Joan Barfoot, reviewed
An absentee mother is tracked down to a remote Canadian cabin and held to account for abandoning her family many years earlier
Unlucky break: All In, by Claire Powell, reviewed
For an unhappily married couple on holiday with extended family the tensions just get worse
New York crime caper: Cool Machine, by Colson Whitehead, reviewed
The violent black demi-monde of the 1980s is thrillingly evoked in this gritty finale to Whitehead’s Harlem trilogy
Adolescent anxieties: Schoolgirl, by Osamu Dazai, reviewed
In this collection’s titular story, the tormented Dazai, who committed suicide aged 38, transfers his own existential crises into the private thoughts of an unhappy Tokyo schoolgirl
An alternative Paris: Château Rouge, by Amit Chaudhuri, reviewed
A writer, newly arrived in France on a visiting fellowship, is determined to explore the capital with fresh eyes
The past yields up its secrets: The Red Mouth, by Sheila Armstrong, reviewed
The dark power of an Irish peat bog lies at the heart of Armstrong’s story, with ancient bones revealing a mysterious, violent history
