Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson review – quirky postwar nostalgia from the Life After Life author
There are glimpses of Atkinson’s subtle brilliance in this gentle noirish mystery set around the Festival of Britain
Hawking by Graham Farmelo review – the dark side of genius
A biography of the physicist recognises his achievements, but also reveals the selfish narcissist underneath
1984 review – brings new meaning to the word Orwellian
Orwell is himself a character in this frustrating but provocative adaptation of his dystopian classic, which seeks to refresh its metaphors and make its totalitarian nightmare seem real again
A Long Winter review – hope, desire and subversion in Andrew Haigh’s beautiful winter western
In a remote Colorado farmstead, a family with a mother gone missing finds a strange buoyancy and freedom as they wait for the snows to melt
The best recent poetry – review roundup
Fetch by Colin Bramwell; Girling by Eve Esfandiari-Denney; The Dead One, The Unconscious One, Thundering in Your Ear, Thriving Slumber by Jay Gao; Belling the Leopard by Clementine Ewokolo Burnley; The Matter by Padraig Regan
The Golden Hours by Louisa Young review – this continuation of the Cazalet Chronicles is a total delight
Elizabeth Jane Howard’s niece has picked up the thread of her much-loved family saga series, taking the story into the 1960s
People With Money by Jess Ho review – race, class and gender collide in this outlandish but overcooked satire
In their debut novel following their memoir Raised by Wolves, Ho’s signature sarcasm is present throughout but some characters border on caricature
An Unexpected Life by Gloria Steinem review – a fitting tribute to a feminist icon
The activist’s memoir, due to be published this month, now stands as a posthumous testament to her remarkable life
New Cemetery by Simon Armitage audiobook review – the poet laureate’s meditations take flight
The building of a cemetery during the pandemic inspires the Huddersfield-born author to reflect on childhood memories and the changing local landscape
It took me 10 years to read this beast of a book – but it was worth it
First published in 1941, Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is not quite War and Peace. But it comes close
A Death of One’s Own by Terry Eagleton review – meditations on arriving at a full stop
The literary critic brings his vast reading to bear on life’s most inescapable fact
Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings by Jared Diamond review – how to change the course of history
The author of Guns, Germs and Steel falters in this flawed study of whether individuals really make a difference
Late Fame review – Willem Dafoe superb as ever as twilight-years bohemian getting a second chance
Adaptation of an Arthur Schnitzler novella sees Dafoe’s ageing poet embraced by a younger cohort of capricious hipsters. It’s smart, literate and affecting
The Bridge by Colm Tóibín review – betrayal and survival in the High Pyrenees
Deep sorrow mingles with illicit desire in this potent novella, the follow-up to a 2006 story about an isolated family in the Catalan mountains
Under Story by Chloe Benjamin review – this time-reversal melodrama is quantum hokum
A grieving couple who have lost their son find a way to a mirror universe where time runs backwards – but the narrative machinery is shonky and distracting