May at 10 by Anthony Seldon review – an ‘iron lady’ buckling in the heat of power

The historian’s insightful, revelatory account of Theresa May’s premiership reveals how ill-equipped she was for the role

A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar review – art, love and loss

A Pulitzer-winning memoirist explores the life and art of Siena, as he comes to terms with the death of his Lybian father

The Reinvention of Humanity by Charles King review – a revolution in anthropology

A brilliantly written account of how pioneering anthropologists radically changed the study of humankind

The Other Name: Septology I-II by Jon Fosse review – a momentous project begins

The beginning of a septet, this darkly ecstatic Norwegian story of art and God is relentlessly consuming

Learning Languages in Early Modern England by John Gallagher review – an Englishman abroad

A study of the ‘lowly’ English language and a time when conversation guides taught how to insult enemies

The Topeka School by Ben Lerner review – in a class of its own

Psychoanalysis, rap battles, poetry, school debates: this bravura US autofiction explores language as tool and weapon

Will by Will Self review – an unsparing memoir of addiction

He crashes his car, he overdoses, he sets himself on fire ... In his usual mannered, knowing style, Self recalls his desperate years on heroin

Pale Sister review – Colm Tóibín and Lisa Dwan’s twist on Antigone

The acclaimed writer’s version of the Greek tragedy focuses on her sister Ismene, with plenty of modern relevances

Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan review – an atmosphere of dread

Fairytales set male oppression against female compliance in a collection full of creeping terror

The Ingenious Language by Andrea Marcolongo review – nine epic reasons to love Greek

An exhilarating argument that ancient Greek offers us uniquely ‘concise, explosive, ironic, open-ended modes of expression’

This Is Pleasure by Mary Gaitskill review – a moment of reckoning

The anger and ambiguities of #MeToo are masterfully distilled into the account of a complicated friendship

May at 10 by Anthony Seldon review – politics and pressure

Could Theresa May have delivered a deal? And was she right to call an election? A study of the what ifs of Brexit

A spirit the Nazis couldn’t erase: Charlotte Salomon: Life? or Theatre? review

Discovered after her death at Auschwitz, the artist’s graphic record of her life unfolds in startlingly poignant scenes, from her mother’s graveside to her lover’s bed

We Are Made of Diamond Stuff by Isabel Waidner review – cutting edge

Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths prize, this innovative state-of-the-nation novel shows razor-sharp wit and rage

My Parents: An Introduction / This Does Not Belong To You by Aleksandar Hemon review – socialism and nostalgia

The acclaimed Bosnian-American writer considers his parents’ broken dreams and recalls first love and childhood days in Sarajevo