Close to Home by Michael Magee review – Belfast struggles
This taut debut about a working-class young man wrestling with masculinity and lack of opportunity feels like a genuinely necessary book
Girl in a Pink Dress by Kylie Needham review – a tale of two artists
This compelling debut novel follows a young female painter whose ambitions begin to clash with those of her older lover and teacher
The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan review – one for all fans of roistering and horse-jumping
After a bromantic meet-cute with three grizzled veteran musketeers, the young fighter and his new gang journey entertainingly through palace intrigue with some excellent stunts
Beastly: A New History of Animals and Us by Keggie Carew review – love/eat relationship
A dazzling examination of our contradictory attitudes towards the creatures with whom we share the planet
Rosewater by Liv Little review – hookups, hope and hard times
A Black queer poet struggling to stay afloat in south London provides the focus of this story about love, family, friendship and joy amid the chaos
In Her Nature by Rachel Hewitt review – reclaiming the great outdoors
An impressive blend of memoir and history that takes inspiration from the women written out of sporting history
The Long Form by Kate Briggs review – motherhood and meaning
A day in the life of a mother and her newborn baby unfurls an investigation into how we find structure and meaning in the world – and in the novel
The Forgotten Girls by Monica Potts review – broken heartlands
A journalist’s account of the Arkansas town she left behind, and the friend whose fate she avoided
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld review – when Noah met Sally
A comedy sketch writer’s crush on a pop star sparks this witty take on the Hollywood romcom
Judy Blume Forever review – inspiring portrait of a fearless author
As the author’s teen novels continue to aggravate the far right, this illuminating documentary spotlights her incredible career
Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia by Hadley Freeman – review
This searing memoir from a recovered anorexic, which explores the warped thinking around the illness, should be required reading
The best recent crime and thriller writing – review roundup
A village treasure hunt digs up trouble, a game of dares goes too far and a Mary Higgins Clark classic is revisited in this month’s highlights
In brief: The Memory Keeper; The Anniversary; How to Be Invisible – reviews
Jackie Kohnstamm uncovers her grandparents’ lives in Berlin, a novelist loses her husband at sea and Kate Bush perceptively introduces her lyrics
Much Ado review – Shakespeare adaptation offers modern British take
Some sparky performances are not enough to stop this low-budget version of Shakespeare’s romcom falling flat
Among Others: Friendships and Encounters by Michael Frayn review – heartfelt pen portraits
The playwright’s evocative series of essays profiles some of the brightest figures he’s met in his life, from Alan Bennett and Bamber Gascoigne to childhood friends and first loves