Arctic Summer review – a bold exploration of EM Forster’s inner life

Damon Galgut skilfully weaves A Passage To India into a compassionate fictionalised biography of its author, writes Lettie Ransley

The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth review – ‘A literary triumph’

Paul Kingsnorth borrows from Old English with compelling results in this medieval tale of guerrilla warfare in the Lincolnshire fens, writes Adam Thorpe

Trials of Passion: Crimes in the Name of Love and Madness – review

Should erotic obsession be grounds for getting away with murder? Dinah Birch on three notorious cases

Jane, the Fox & Me review – beat the bullies with the help of Jane Eyre

Adults and children alike will be captivated by this beautifully drawn tale of how a girl survives her school days, writes Rachel Cooke

On Offence review – a ‘coolly thoughtful analysis’ of the politics of indignation

Richard King's timely study shows that insults have never had such potency, writes Sam Leith

The Unexpected Professor – John Carey’s ‘enjoyable ramble’ through his life in books

Oxford don John Carey's trawl through his back pages is at its best when least professorial, writes Ben East

The Poets’ Wives review – a thought-provoking study of life and art

David Park's evocative novellas examine the impact of art through the lives of three poets' wives, writes Anita Sethi

You Should Have Known review – a witty domestic suspense novel

Jean Hanff Korelitz's pacy thriller examines the fear that we might not know our nearest and dearest as well as we think, writes Stephanie Merritt

Almost English review – Charlotte Mendelson’s deft and dark farce

Hephzibah Anderson enjoys a satisfying fairy tale starring a misfit teenager and a trio of elderly Hungarian ladies

Lawrence in Arabia review – a great revolutionary gets his due

Scott Anderson's account of the Arab revolt and the life of TE Lawrence is both scholarly and highly readable, writes Ian Thomson

Four Sisters review – an intimate portrait of the doomed Romanov grand duchesses

The tsar's daughters take centre stage in Helen Rappaport's powerful account of the end of the Romanovs, writes Lara Feigel

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery review – ‘a bloody, splendid book’

Neurosurgeon Henry Marsh has written a brutally honest account of his work, and bungling NHS bureaucracy, writes Euan Ferguson

Frog Music review – Emma Donoghue’s sophisticated whodunnit

This 19th-century San Francisco suspense novel tells us plenty about parenthood today, writes Alex Preston

The Self-Portrait: A Cultural History review – ‘enthralling’

James Hall's history of self-portraits illuminates our narcissistic age of the selfie, writes Peter Conrad

The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry review – the upheaval of war

The third novel about the McNulty family, this time narrated by the bad guy, breathes new life into Barry’s great project. By Claire Kilroy