Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Fourth Estate) (Critic’s choice)

In the much-anticipated sequel to Wolf Hall, Mantel’s hero Thomas Cromwell watches Henry VIII fall in love with Jane Seymour. May.

Home by Toni Morrison (Chatto)

Nobel laureate Morrison tells the story of the difficult homecoming of a black Korean war veteran to a racist America. Frank Money must return to his hated Georgia hometown and to his bitter memories of childhood and the war, if he is to save his abused sister. May.

Gold by Chris Cleave (Sceptre)

It has been four years since Chris Cleave combined literary and bestselling to stunning effect in The Other Hand. Cleave is back with the timely novel Gold, about two female cyclists competing for a place in the Olympics, one of whom has an ill daughter. June.

The Second World War by Antony Beevor (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

A single-volume history of the second world war from one of Britain’s best historians, Antony Beevor, author of the prize-winning Stalingrad. Described as a “landmark” history of the war, focusing on its human aspects and using the most up-to-date research. June.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (Simon & Schuster)

One of the biggest debuts of the season, this apocalyptic literary novel was acquired for £500,000. Told from the perspective of a young girl in California, this tells of an Earth whose rotation is slowing, gradually causing environmental catastrophe. June.

Canada by Richard Ford (Bloomsbury)

Pulitzer-winning Ford returns with Dell Parsons, whose family settles in Montana and whose parents decide to rob a bank. Dell is saved from the authorities, and crosses the border into the Canadian unknown. June.