Tim Glencross captures the north London elite at work and play but his first novel may baffle those beyond Islington's borders, writes Frances Perraudin
'All the ways a women can hurt': this collection by a young journalist and novelist excels when it focuses on the female body and pain, writes Brian Dillon
In spite of his era, Frank Borzage's version of Hemingway includes some great avant-garde touches, even if the heroine (Helen Hayes) is a foot shorter than her hero (Gary Cooper), writes Steve Rose
From first hand accounts of gulag survivors to memoirs of defectors once part of the top echelons of government, here’s our pick of the best books on the secretive kingdom
This retelling of the story of the last woman to be publically hanged in Dorset has some lovely elements, but leaves its characters underdeveloped, says Lyn Gardner
This portrait of six literary greats combines biography, science and superb prose to illuminate the effects of alcohol on their writing, says Sophia Martelli