Radioactive review – Marie Curie biopic fast-forwards to Hiroshima
Rosamund Pike plays the physicist with dignity and froideur in this respectful drama that shows her brilliant discoveries – and their effects
Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars. by Joyce Carol Oates review – a portrait of a family and a nation in crisis
Running the gamut from tragic to funny, Joyce Carol Oates’s immersive new novel is an uncomfortable snapshot of modern-day America
In brief: Defiant; Looking for Eliza; The Forager’s Calendar – review
Robert Verkaik revisits aviation history and Leaf Arbuthnot casts a quiet spell
The Weekend by Charlotte Wood review – intimate and insightful
Three women in their 70s reflect on their lives
The Price of Peace by Zachary D Carter review – how liberals betrayed Keynes
A persuasive new biography argues that it was Blair and Clinton who finally ended JM Keynes’s dream of a fairer life for all
His Imperial Majesty by Matthew Oates review – a natural history of the purple emperor
This regal butterfly has a short lifespan but is ‘a mighty metaphor for our relationship with beauty, and with nature’
Writers & Lovers by Lily King review – a kind of gorgeous agony
From the complexities of romance to debt, the struggles of an aspiring writer are observed with humour and pathos
The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup
A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill; Stormblood by Jeremy Szal; Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; Eden by Tim Lebbon; and We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson
The Blind Light by Stuart Evers review – two men in the sweep of history
From the cold war era to the war on terror, the corrosive effects of fear are closely observed in this portrait of a friendship over six decades
A People’s History of Tennis by David Berry review – a game for everyone?
In its early days, tennis attracted mavericks and rebellious women. This entertaining book claims the sport has a progressive ‘hidden history’ ... is that right?
Steven Berkoff’s Tell Tale Heart review – voraciously hammy gothic
There are fine grisly moments and a creepy score, but Berkoff’s lurid performance stymies the horror of Poe’s murder tale
The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley – ingenious Tokyo tales
Through colliding storylines, this debut collection touchingly evokes the interconnectedness of fractured lives
Good Citizens Need Not Fear by Maria Reva review – an enthralling debut
From absurdity to horror, interlinked short stories explore life in a police state for the inhabitants of a block of flats in 1980s Ukraine
The Consequences of Love by Gavanndra Hodge review – a high achiever’s dark truth
A superbly written account of coming to terms with childhood bereavement and a father’s addiction to sex and drugs
Virus Tropical review – energetic, dazzling animated rite of passage
With nods to telenovelas and Persepolis, this animation, a film of Power Paola’s vivid graphic novel memoir of growing up in South America, is truly beautiful