In the Footsteps of Du Fu by Michael Wood review – the great poet’s progress
A superb evocation of the Chinese master and his travels
Brooklyn Crime Novel by Jonathan Lethem review – death of a neighbourhood
This kaleidoscopic fictionalised memoir is a compelling chronicle of gentrification, filled with a melancholy humour
Eileen review – Anne Hathaway is vehement in solemnly intense psycho-noir
Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel becomes a disappointing movie, unable to decide if it’s a thriller or a dark comedy, though Thomasin McKenzie and Hathaway give it their all
Central Places by Delia Cai review – a return to one’s roots
In this assured debut, a Chinese-American woman tries to reconcile her teenage and adult selves on a visit to her parents
My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand review – funny girl
From difficult childhood to glittering career, this is an astonishing success story
The Fabulist review: timely tale of the rise and fall of George Santos
The New York Republican could be expelled from Congress this week. Mark Chiusano’s sharp biography is a telling read
Absolution by Alice McDermott review – white saviour complexities
This story of American expat wives during the Vietnam war captures their myopia and limitations as well as the mutability of memory
Mozart in Italy by Jane Glover review – the making of a master
An account of the teenage Mozart’s operatic awakening is packed with humanising detail
The best recent crime and thriller writing – review roundup
Terry Hayes’s gripping second novel was worth the 10-year wait, while Michael Caine’s first thriller has bags of energy and rises above cliche – plus a creepily compelling tale of reality TV and a cryptic cracker
My Account by Coleen Rooney review – Wagatha, Wayne and red-top feeding frenzies
The footballer’s wife lays bare her journey from Croxteth chippie to modelling Gucci for Vogue – but the most eye-opening passages are fuelled by domesticity, not celebrity
The Future by Naomi Alderman review – survival of the fittest
Wisecracks, gadgets and cartoonish violence are to the fore in this fast-paced novel about three tech tycoons facing Armageddon
Trapped in History: Kenya, Mau Mau and Me by Nicholas Rankin review – a child’s eye view of empire
The author’s account of his youth amid Kenya’s 1950s anti-colonial uprising is an unforgettable mix of history and memoir
In brief: 1974: Scenes from a Year of Crisis; America Fantastica; Heritage – review
A history of a turbulent 12 months, our efforts to conserve Britain’s past, plus Tim O’Brien’s first novel in more than 20 years
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride review – sweet solidarity
The novelist and musician’s tale of Black and Jewish Americans uniting against prejudice in the 1930s is deftly plotted, richly characterised and inspiring
Verdant Inferno/A Scabby Black Brazilian by Alberto Rangel/ Jean-Christophe Goddard review – an Amazonian beauty
Two republished titles sharing the same cover – one a Brazilian classic, the other a philosophical blurring of genres – deliver head-spinning insights into life in the rainforest