Speak, Silence by Carole Angier review – a remarkable biography
The first major study of revered author and academic WG Sebald reveals an obsessive and brilliant mind
The best recent fantasy, horror and science fiction – review roundup
Hollow by B Catling; The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix; Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy; A Master of Djinn by P Djèlí Clark; and Too Near the Dead by Helen Grant
The Luminous Novel by Mario Levrero review – an extraordinary autofictional diary
Mingling fact and fancy, this epic of digression and procrastination is wonderfully poignant
The Magic Box by Rob Young review – a spirited history of television
From spectral dreamscapes to The Year of the Sex Olympics, a lovingly researched history of British TV recalls the brilliant, the bizarre and the unworldly
The Airways by Jennifer Mills review – deeply vivacious and arresting ghost story
Following her Miles Franklin-shortlisted Dyschronia, Jennifer Mills’s most recent novel revels in the ‘consciousness of the body’
The Angels of L19 by Jonathan Walker review – an ambitious, flawed experiment
A coming-of-age novel set in 1980s Liverpool explores repressed trauma and religious belief
Ding Dong! Avon Calling! by Katina Manko review – a fresh take on the cosmetics industry
An astute analysis of how a corporation transformed the economic landscape for women around the world
France in the World review – a defiantly quixotic chronicle
From Villers-Cotterêts to gilets jaunes … 150 impassioned essays, edited by Patrick Boucheron and Stéphane Gerson, examine the history and soul of France
Something Out of Place by Eimear McBride review – a satisfying feminist polemic
The nonfiction debut by the prize-winning novelist adds to the conversation about how disgust is still used as a form of social control
Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman review – Hollywood apocalypse
This sharply observed tale of planetary emergency digresses into unseen worlds, exploring human self-obsession and climate grief
Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards review – millennial tragedy finds joy amid doom
Another novel predicated on Gen Y’s hopelessness, Richards’ debut is an easy read with surprising depth – and a distinctly Melburnian feel
Shoko’s Smile by Choi Eunyoung review – intimate connections and political backdrops
The South Korean author displays subtlety and precision in this collection of touching short stories
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner review – truth of a modest sceptic
The Japanese Breakfast frontwoman finds making kimchi is the best way to grieve her tough Korean mother in this droll memoir
Prisoners of Time by Christopher Clark review – bravura examination of political power
How do leaders, regimes and empires maintain control? An acclaimed historian teases out the truth to exhilarating effect
In brief: Writing in the Dark; Dust Off the Bones; Looking for the Durrells – review
Gossip and glamour with the 1940s literati, the return of a magnificent villain and an enchanting trip to Corfu