From Life Itself by Suzy Hansen review – Turkey in the age of Erdoğan
This portrait of everyday life in an Istanbul neighbourhood buffeted by change has far wider relevance
What If Reform Wins by Peter Chappell review – a massive wake-up call
This ‘nonfiction thriller’ takes us through exactly what would happen if Nigel Farage won his dreamed-of majority
Devotions by Lucy Caldwell review – short stories that are frightening, passionate and comforting too
The Northern Irish writer explores music and family, memory and duty in this stunning collection of sharply observed tales
Having Spent Life Seeking by Kae Tempest review – painfully earnest tale of trauma and transition
An ex-offender searches for meaning and beauty in the second novel from the spoken-word performer
This Dark Night by Deborah Lutz review – Emily Brontë’s world
Tactile details and a no-nonsense approach make this biography a refreshing change from more lurid fare
The Sheep Detectives review – Hugh Jackman gives a flock in baa-rking mad cosy crime caper
Jackman plays the farmer in this Babe-style feelgood family film about plucky sheep who help solve a murder
Famesick by Lena Dunham review – when celebrity causes side-effects
The Girls creator has endured brickbats and breakdowns – but she doesn’t always make it easy to feel sorry for her
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout review – readers will delight in these new characters
The Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton author branches out with the tale of a Massachusetts teacher haunted by trauma
Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
An imposter monkey, an underworld princess, art’s female trailblazers, and YA tales of fear, family and friendship
The Body Builders by Albertine Clarke review – a compelling debut of mental meltdown
A young woman’s dissociation from reality and her road to recovery are vividly rendered in this striking novel
Mantle by Romy Ash review – an exquisitely wild and exhilarating vision of the near future
Thirteen years after her celebrated debut, the author returns with a bizarre, evocative work that merges science and the surreal
The Waves review – superb staging of Virginia Woolf’s deep dive into friendship
Deft production follows six friends as they morph from truth-blurting children into weary midlifers in effortless and capable performances
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch audiobook review – an award-winning story of homophobia and divorce
Dual timelines reveal the real reason a mother was forced to leave her daughter in the 80s, in this Nero prize-winning novel inspired by real-life events
Double Indemnity review – leaden drama turns crime classic into a very cold case
James M Cain’s hard-bitten novella gained bleak power on screen but this version, giving Mischa Barton her UK stage debut, loses its flinty edge
The Asset Class by Hettie O’Brien review – the hidden hand of private equity
From utilities to care homes, how capital’s most rapacious form yet is taking over the public realm