The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan review – psychologist in the dock

This inquiry into a 1970s experiment that shook the world of psychiatry makes for a compelling read

In brief: On the Up; How to Be an Activist; The Silent Patient – reviews

Alice O’Keeffe’s debut novel warms the heart, Vanessa Holburn offers a guide to protest, and Alex Michaelides’s thriller builds suspense beautifully

A scrap-metal merchant is unlucky in love and online shopping in this German dystopian comic satire

A man struggles to come to terms with how his perfect life has gone so badly wrong, but how credible is his story?

This study of Edward Snowden and others who exposed wrongdoing asks why things rarely turn out well for them

Carmen Maria Machado’s account of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her ‘petite, blond, Harvard graduate’ lover is horrifying but beguiling

Poverty and indignity in Chile are explored with skill

Realism and surrealism intertwine as an alienated young woman finds herself on a journey from Beijing to Tibet

The final book of Coetzee’s Jesus trilogy is also its darkest, keeping the mystery at the books’ heart intact to the end

Composer Barb Jungr and director Samantha Lane serve up a characterful take on a Scandinavian folktale, with lashings of puppetry and song

From eastern Europe to west Africa to the Middle East … how cities in the developing world were built by the Soviet bloc

The Mauritian author explores how legacies of colonialism and empire persist amid acts of cruelty and violence in London

The novelist shares lessons from the challenges in her own life and those of famous interviewees

Lars Iyer’s ambitious follow-up to Wittgenstein Jr tracks a gang of smart-aleck sixth formers as they explore nihilism in the suburbs

Charlotte Runcie and Irvine Welsh are among the writers exploring Scotland’s maritime history in these evocative installations