The best recent thrillers – review roundup
A pandemic locks down London and a doctor faces a dilemma over child abuse
Radical Wordsworth by Jonathan Bate review – fleet-footed and inspiriting
A biography focusing on Wordsworth’s most creative years zings with passion
New Movement Collective review – eerie journeys into Auster and Homer
There are striking moments in the films of this dance group’s performances, inspired by New York Trilogy and The Odyssey
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones review – daddy’s girls with a difference
It’s hard to resist this compelling melodrama of two African American half-sisters who suffer the fallout of their father’s secret life
One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown – review
Craig Brown’s portrait of the band recaptures their heyday in a series of shimmering vignettes
In Brief: On Chapel Sands; Nobody Will Tell You This But Me – reviews
A gripping memoir by Laura Cumming along with a touching tribute to a Brooklynite grandmother
The Liminal Papacy of Pope Francis review – pontiff who wants walls to tumble down
Massimo Faggioli’s important study of the current pope shows why he has focused on the marginalised in society and religious life
Putin’s People by Catherine Belton review – relentless and convincing
This is the most remarkable account so far of Putin’s rise from a KGB operative to deadly agent provocateur in the hated west
Code Red and Politics Is For Power review: rallying calls for the battle to dump Trump
EJ Dionne and Eitan Hersh offer complementary visions of how Democrats can achieve results by putting down their smartphones and taking real action
Notre-Dame review – an engrossing history of ‘the soul of France’
A gripping account of the majestic cathedral
Aria by Nazanine Hozar review – an epic tale of turmoil in Tehran
The young eponymous heroine in this warm-hearted debut embodies the complexity of Iran in the runup to the 1979 revolution
The best science fiction and fantasy – review roundup
The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence; The Book of Koli by MR Carey; Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth; Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova; Looking Glass by Christina Henry
How Pale the Winter Has Made Us by Adam Scovell review – fever dreams in Strasbourg
An English émigré is haunted by visions of a menacing folkloric spirit in a hypnotic tale of solitude and grief
The Better Half by Sharon Moalem review – on the genetic superiority of women
Women live longer than men. We know Covid-19 is killing more men than women. This book is an antidote to the myth of the ‘weaker sex’
Parallel Lives by Phyllis Rose review – what makes a good marriage?
George Eliot’s unwedded bliss, John Stuart Mill’s menage à trois, Charles Dickens’s adultery … a classic study of five couples is remodelled for our times