Fiction
Fractured loyalties: The Tribe, by Michael Arditti, reviewed
A powerful Jewish family flee Salonika in 1912 – only to fall apart in France on the eve of the second world war
Blockchain fantasies: My Bags Are Big, by Tibor Fischer, reviewed
Everyone in Dubai’s confected utopia is reinventing themselves and failing miserably in this dark satire on greed, stupidity and regret
The world destroyed by madness: Howl, by Howard Jacobson, reviewed
Apart from the atrocity of 7 October 2023 itself, it is the reaction of neighbours and even family that appals Jacobson’s protagonist in a novel that still manages to be darkly comic
Chasing happiness: The Daffodil Days, by Helen Bain, reviewed
Leaving London with her husband and daughter to make a new home on the edge of Dartmoor, Sylvia Plath longs for ‘everything to be perfect… and hasn’t learned yet that, in life, nothing can be’
Ghastly middle-class materialism: The Quantity Theory of Morality, by Will Self, reviewed
Self’s latest satire suggests that a world where the avaricious prosper, and the meek inherit the debts of the unscrupulous, contains a limited amount of morality
A nasty little tale about a marriage: Look What You Made Me Do, by John Lanchester, reviewed
The life of recently widowed Kate is cast into further turmoil by a hit TV series which suggests that her husband had been having an affair with its scriptwriter
Revelling in reading: The Enchanting Lives of Others, by Can Xue, reviewed
A group of young fiction enthusiasts and intellectuals channel their energies into devouring novels – and marvel at how enlightened it makes them feel
Double trouble: As If, by Isabel Waidner, reviewed
Two near-identical middle-aged men, adrift and purposeless, are revitalised when they spontaneously decide to swap lives
Adventures in the City of Light: Rousseau’s Lost Children, by Gavin McCrea, reviewed
An academic specialising in Jean-Jacques Rousseau slips back in time to 1777 to accompany his hero on long philosophical rambles around Paris
Blitz spirits: Nonesuch, by Francis Spufford, reviewed
Set in war-torn London, this fantastical novel featuring shape-shifting angels, parallel universes and a homicidal female fascist deserves to be a colossal success
No good deed goes unpunished: A Better Life, by Lionel Shriver, reviewed
Kind, liberal Gloria Bonaventura opens her New York home to a young Honduran woman, but soon comes to regret the decision
Lust for gold: White River Crossing, by Ian McGuire, reviewed
In 1766, a small party from the Hudson Bay Company head to the subarctic tundra in search of untold riches
Musical bumps: Discord, by Jeremy Cooper, reviewed
The ebb and flow of harmony between a composer and her chosen solo saxophonist is charted with meticulous precision
Dark days in Kolkata: A Guardian and a Thief, by Megha Majumdar, reviewed
As the city descends into chaos and starvation, a ‘manager madam’ and desperate intruder clash in their efforts to keep their respective families alive
Horror in Victorian Hampstead: Mrs Pearcey, by Lottie Moggach, reviewed
A fledgling female journalist fights hard to exonerate an impoverished woman accused of double murder
Sabotage in occupied France: The Shock of the Light, by Lori Inglis Hill, reviewed
Having joined SOE at the outbreak of war, young Tessa faces immense dangers, not all of which she can overcome
A poignant study of female attachment: Chosen Family, by Madeleine Gray, reviewed
This Sydney-based novel explores friendship, love, betrayal and the highs and lows of parenthood
A commentary on the grim present: Glyph, by Ali Smith, reviewed
Smith seems to urge us to pay close attention to the horrors of today’s world. But can such a spectacularly plotless novel convey any meaningful message?
A satirical masterpiece: Blinding, by Mircea Cartarescu, reviewed
Bucharest is transformed into a phantasmic playground in this surreal take on Romania’s horrific recent history
Time for a reckoning: Vigil, by George Saunders, reviewed
A mega-rich oil magnate is offered a last-minute opportunity for repentance in this Christmas Carol for our times, targeting corporate greed and consumerism
A flying visit: Palaver, by Bryan Washington, reviewed
A mother travels impulsively from Texas to Tokyo to spend time with her estranged son when she hears an unfamiliar catch in his voice over the phone
An intellectual farce: Rapture of the Deep, by Robert Irwin, reviewed
Quantum physics, time travel, chaos theory and religious speculation all find a place in this ideas-rich romp about a lonely scientist studying ‘nitrogen narcosis’
The serious business of games: Seven, by Joanna Kavenna, reviewed
A young philosopher goes in search of the curator of the Society of Lost Things and the once world-famous game of Seven whose rules no one seems to know
Bookshop blues: Service, by John Tottenham, reviewed
An aspiring novelist working the evening shift in an LA bookstore is forced to listen to endless chat about works he knows in his heart to be terrible – or, worse, fears might be good
From riches to rags: The Effingers, by Gabriele Tergit, reviewed
Beginning in 1878, this family saga charts the success of two Jewish brothers in Berlin before the coming of the Nazis threatens not only their livelihoods but their lives
