Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson review – a genre-defying graphic novel about class, religion and globalisation
Can you tell the American story via ginseng? Thompson’s funny, moving and exquisitely drawn work has a go
The Illegals by Shaun Walker review – gripping true stories of spies who lived deep undercover
An eye-opening account of the old Soviet tactic of embedding secret agents where you’d least expect them
The Names by Florence Knapp – the verdict on spring’s hottest debut
In this strikingly assured sliding doors tale, three alternate narratives unfold, showing how the choice of a name influences a life
Sunstruck by William Rayfet Hunter review – a Saltburn-style story of identity
A mixed-race musician is drawn into the unfamiliar milieu of an upper-class family in this plotty debut
Mark Twain by Ron Chernow review – the story of America’s first literary celebrity, from the author of Hamilton
A definitive new biography takes in adventures Mississippi, racist stereotypes and get-rich-quick schemes
Pathemata by Maggie Nelson review – a writer’s attempt to describe chronic pain
Woolf said language ‘runs dry’ when it comes to convey the reality of illness. Here is an impressive effort to do just that
Dream State by Eric Puchner review – an epic tale of paradise lost
A love triangle plays out across generations in this brilliantly panoramic tale of family ties
Zbig: a bracing life of Carter’s abrasive national security adviser
Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Polish-born rival of Kissinger, is the subject of a highly readable biography by Edward Luce
The best recent poetry – review roundup
Midden Witch by Fiona Benson; Dwell by Simon Armitage; Nature Matters edited by Mona Arshi & Karen McCarthy Woolf; Lode by Gillian Allnutt; Silk Work by Imogen Cassels; A History of Western Music by August Kleinzahler
Red Pockets by Alice Mah review – finding hope amid the climate crisis
A professor’s quest to make sense of her eco-anxiety takes her from her ancestral village in China to Cop 26 and beyond
Little World by Josephine Rowe review – a beautiful novella that lacks heft
Australian literature is littered with dead girls in the bush – and this finely wrought tale is narrated by a corpse who feels like just a gauzy metaphor
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan audiobook review – a bold memoir of life and near-death
History and autobiography are brilliantly intertwined as the Booker-winning author explores the choices and chance connections that shape our existence
The Pretender by Jo Harkin review – a bold and brilliant comedy of royal intrigue
This fantasia on the life of Lambert Simnel, who finds himself a claimant to the English throne, is a romp through late-medieval identity and historical uncertainty
Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata review – a future without sex
The Convenience Store Woman author imagines the creep of a new worldview, in a novel that highlights the weirdness of normal life
Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley review – a delightfully grounded romance
This irresistible love story braids the personal and the political – from Brexit to who gets to use the spare room as an office