His Dark Materials series two review – Ruth Wilson brandishes TV’s scariest tweezers
Smartphones, a mysterious CGI town, and a terrifying torture scene are among the draws as Jack Thorne’s steampunkish Philip Pullman adaptation returns to screens
In brief: When the Lights Go Out; The Stubborn Light of Things; Olive, Again – review
A marital drama driven by the climate crisis from Carys Bray, Melissa Harrison’s reflections on nature and the return of Elizabeth’s Strout’s irascible antiheroine
The Betrayals by Bridget Collins review – divine encounters
A disgraced politician is sent back to his shadowy alma mater in this heady, captivating novel set in an unnamed European country
Oh Happy Day by Carmen Callil review – tearful compassion and eloquent rage
The Virago Press founder unearths the remarkable tale of her ancestors down under
The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War and Everest by Ed Caesar – review
A riveting tale of trauma, spiritual awakening and postwar derring-do
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez review – questions of survival
From a terminal cancer diagnosis to the existential horror of climate chaos, the author of The Friend considers finality and forgiveness
Little Wars review – starry cast sparkle as squabbling literary legends
Juliet Stevenson, Linda Bassett and others bring to life a fantasy dinner party thrown as the Nazis overrun France
Words on Bathroom Walls review – prettified portrait of mental illness
This YA drama about a teenager with schizophrenia is well-intentioned and well-acted but relies too heavily on the cliches of high-school life
The Brutish Museums by Dan Hicks review – return everything
A powerful call for western museums to return the objects looted in days of empire, during ‘world war zero’
The Glamour Boys by Chris Bryant review – the rebels who fought for Britain
The fascinating story of 10 courageous gay MPs who saw clearly that war was inevitable and were prepared to take a stand against appeasement
Lucky’s by Andrew Pippos review – a must-read saga, and a gripping monument to Greek diaspora
Pippos’ first book is a mouthwatering tale that encapsulates family drama, true crime and Greek tragedy – with pathos-filled characters that pop
A Christmas Gift from Bob review – family-friendly festive sequel
This themed continuation of A Street Cat Named Bob is undeniably good-hearted but there’s more menace in Paddington 2
The best recent poetry – review roundup
Poor by Caleb Femi; The Actual by Inua Ellams; Arrow by Sumita Chakraborty; and Gigantic Cinema: A Weather Anthology edited by Alice Oswald and Paul Keegan
Mr Wilder & Me by Jonathan Coe review – the director’s cut
A young woman finds herself on the set of Billy Wilder’s 1978 film Fedora, in Coe’s love letter to the spirit of cinema
African Europeans by Olivette Otele review – when race mattered less
A fascinating history, with a memorable cast of characters, of Africans who had a vital presence in European life