Being Mr Wickham review – Jane Austen’s cad meanders into old age

Adrian Lukis’s self-penned one-man show revisits the character he played in Pride and Prejudice on TV in 1995, but doesn’t discover much

Crime and thrillers of the month – review

Deep-sea divers feel the pressure, Stephen King returns with some masterly tales, a mother fears her own son, and a Dorset resort isn’t as restful as it seems

Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin review – an erudite first novel with horny energy

The bedroom antics of two couples 50 years apart drive the cultural critic’s debut novel, a cerebral comedy full of insights into art, womanhood and ethical quandaries

A Little Art Education by Lynn Barber review – pocket portraits that are a breath of fresh air

Star interviewer, provoker of the Chapman brothers and the woman who made Howard Hodgkin cry… Barber’s slim book about her obsession with artists – particularly those who smoke – is wonderfully entertaining

Great Britain?: How We Get Our Future Back by Torsten Bell review – a roadmap to the new normal

The economist and Labour candidate for Swansea West offers a hopeful vision of the nation’s future – spurning leftwing utopianism as well as tackling 14 years of creeping decline

Hamas: The Quest for Power review – the men behind the masks

Beverley Milton-Edwards and Stephen Farrell’s update of their 2010 survey of the Islamist movement argues that violent struggle with Israel is a major part of its identity, but not its only goal

The High Seas by Olive Heffernan review – the depths of despair

The journalist struggles to find any signs of optimism in this comprehensive investigation of the staggering damage we have done to the world’s oceans and its life forms

Not That I’m Bitter by Helen Lederer review – funny lessons from the comedy fringe

The comedian and actor’s memoir, rich in laughs and wisdom, celebrates her knack for being in the right place at the wrong time

Going Home by Tom Lamont review – a debut with charm to burn

The award-winning journalist’s first novel is a well-observed tale enriched by the perspective of a small boy

Only Here, Only Now by Tom Newlands review – visceral coming-of-age tale

A teenage girl with ADHD dreams of a new life in Glasgow in a rich and vivid debut novel examining belonging, poverty and rage

Girl in the Making by Anna Fitzgerald review – an affecting coming-of-age debut

A girl’s childhood is vividly chronicled in this novel of a large family in 1960s and 70s Dublin

Winner: Observer/Anthony Burgess prize 2024: Oscar Jelley reviews Isabel Waidner

The winning entry for this year’s criticism prize dissects the German-British writer’s latest novel, a work that combines surrealist fantasy and political moralising

In brief: History in the House; Rabbits; Summer in Baden-Baden – review

A study of Christ Church, Oxford, brings its characters to life, Hugo Rifkind skewers posh-boy mores in his new novel, and an underappreciated Soviet author returns to the spotlight

Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove review – a soundtrack for the world, from the Sugarhill Gang to Kanye West

The Roots drummer, DJ, author and director is the ‘Ken Burns of black music’, and his personal reflections on a genre that last year turned 50 are full of wisdom and charm

Broken Threads by Mishal Husain review – a spectacular family chronicle of partition

The BBC journalist weaves a tender tapestry with the stories of her four grandparents in the new state of Pakistan