Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller review – a blend of social realism and gothic horror

In this lurid, big-boned, often brilliant book about a sculptor and a true-crime documentary, state-of-the-nation commentary and gruesome chills combine

Phantom Days by Angela O’Keeffe review – a rich, lyrical story told through the ‘eyes’ of a book

Though O’Keeffe’s third novel is partly narrated by a seemingly sentient object, the result is wonderfully human

Quartet in Autumn review – Samantha Harvey gives new life to Barbara Pym tale of imminent retirement

The 70s novel about the everyday grumbles of four office workers remains just as relevant, playfully staged by director Dominic Dromgoole

Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly audiobook review – smart reflections on love, desire and power

This heartfelt story of attraction and friendship, shortlisted for the Women’s prize for fiction, is sensitively read by Dan Bottomley

The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson review – indie debut on the Women’s prize shortlist

This vivid story of a Caribbean childhood in 1960s Bradford does not stint on accounts of poverty and systemic abuse, yet is pungent with wit and colour

Stephen Sondheim by Daniel Okrent review – a superb biography of the musical master

Packed with gossip and incident, this book is also a fascinating study in the gestation of genius

Astell and Woolf review – feminist writers unite and share a sherry in the afterlife

In Shelagh Stephenson’s spiky comedy, Virginia Woolf and Mary Astell become celestial companions, discussing religion, science and independence

Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt review – is culture the best medicine?

A professor of psychobiology argues that art – from painting to theatre – has a measurable impact on our health

Caroline Aherne by David Scott review – portrait of a comedy maverick

A biography of the creative force behind Mrs Merton and The Royle Family focuses on the stories behind her work

I Want You to Be Happy by Jem Calder review – romance for the terminally online

What makes this love story fresh is the precise attention to the contemporary environment: the way characters live both in and out of the physical world

John Kearns: Tilting at Windmills review – a handful of dust (and prawn cocktail crisps) in riff on TS Eliot

The comedian addresses a relationship breakup via The Waste Land, Aldi and a dimwit estate agent

Offseason by Avigayl Sharp review – wry comedy of a frazzled teacher

Sharp’s deadpan debut reads like a gen Z update on The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, playfully skewering modern literary tropes

If This Be Magic by Daniel Hahn review – how on earth do you translate Shakespeare?

Is Hamlet still Hamlet when every word has changed? A superbly diverting book about language and creativity

Said the Dead by Doireann Ní Ghríofa review – lost voices from an Irish asylum

Forgotten psychiatric patients are resurrected with imagination and compassion in this extraordinary book

Smallie by Eden McKenzie-Goddard review – the stories behind the Windrush scandal

In this warm and tender debut, the family of Barbados-born Lucinda must try to document her decades in Britain after the Home Office threatens her with deportation