In brief: We All Want Impossible Things; Sensational: A New Story of Our Senses; Invisible Child – review

A whip-smart novel that finds joy in grief; an engaging hybrid of science, history and culture; and a Pulitzer prize-winning insight into poverty and homelessness

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer review – a mother’s quest for her lost children

A former enslaved Bajan plantation worker embarks on a courageous journey in this immersive debut

Love Me Tender by Constance Debré review – sex that obliterates the self

This autofiction tale about a mother who loses custody of her son and embraces a life of lesbian exploration severs the erotic from the romantic

Wings of War review: how the P-51 Mustang gave the Allies the skies

A fine new book from a husband and wife team salutes the finest American fighter plane of the second world war

The Cloisters by Katy Hays review – the power of tarot

Academic jealousy and Renaissance magic mingle in this hit US debut, a satisfyingly brutal tale of ambition set in a Manhattan museum

The best recent translated fiction – review roundup

The Penguin Book of French Short Stories; Idol, Burning by Rin Usami; Mr Ma and Son by Lao She; A Silence Shared by Lalla Romano

Escape from Model Land by Erica Thompson review – the power and pitfalls of prediction

From financial forecasts to the climate crisis, a constructive and nuanced critique of mathematical modelling from a data scientist

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley review – madams and murder

This tale of brothel workers in gold rush America lacks mystery and risk

The Last Days of the Ottoman Empire by Ryan Gingeras – fall of the sultans

This epic account of Ottoman decline and the birth of modern Turkey is a tour de force of accessible scholarship

The New Life by Tom Crewe review – desire on trial

Inspired by the fight to change the law and social mores in Victorian England, this excellent debut dramatises physical intensity and moral dilemmas

A Man Called Otto review – Tom Hanks goes grumpy in remake of quirky Swedish yarn

Neither the comedy nor the inherently lovable Hanks are dark enough to bring this remake of an odd redemption story to life

The Artist’s Studio by James Hall review – lust, crime and creativity

From Bernini to Bacon, the artist’s studio has long been a place of passion and tragedy, offering a unique glimpse into the creative mind

A Writer’s Diary by Toby Litt review – birth, death and pencil sharpenings

This stimulating genre-blurring account of a year in the life of a writer asks how we weigh and value our days

English Food by Diane Purkiss review – a mouthwatering history

A sumptuous survey of English cuisine leaves no morsel untasted

The End of Nightwork by Aidan Cottrell-Boyce review – life in fast-forward

Bold philosophical musings on the end of the world in a thrillingly ambitious debut about a man with a condition that causes rapid ageing