The Lamb by Lucy Rose review – cannibalism comes to Cumbria

A mother and daughter live in isolation in this dark fairytale about family secrets and the passage of adolescence

The Secret Painter by Joe Tucker review – an artist in the family

An eccentric uncle turns out to be a joyous chronicler of working class life in this affectionate and beautifully-written story of outsider art

The City Changes Its Face by Eimear McBride review – brilliantly rule-breaking fiction

The couple from The Lesser Bohemians return in this innovative tale of two lovers and of London, in all its sadness and grunginess and grandeur

Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story review – engaging study of a life less ordinary

One of Ireland’s most important novelists and a woman of fierce intelligence and bravery is celebrated in Sinéad O’Shea’s thoroughly enjoyable documentary

Greatest of All Time by Alex Allison review – desire on the football pitch

The story of a secret relationship between two Premier League teammates explores power and homophobia

A Training School for Elephants by Sophy Roberts review – the haunting story of a doomed expedition

History and travelogue combine wonderfully in this tale of colonial plunder and hubris

Deviants by Santanu Bhattacharya review – gay life in India

An epic tale of love across three generations explores changing attitudes towards sexuality in India

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates review – a politically-charged meditation on the power of stories

Travels to Senegal and the West Bank shed light on how we think about race, censorship and oppression

The People Before review – house holds terrible secrets in efficient rural-set thriller

A family seek a fresh start but their new home isn’t the haven of tranquility they were hoping for in this interesting but predictable thriller

I’ve Never Wanted Anyone More review – Goethe’s Werther remade as charming contempo romcom

An 18th-century love triangle relocated to the well-to-do of modern Toronto is big on banter and farce even if real passion is sometimes lacking

Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line by Elizabeth Lovatt – a heartfelt history of the gay community

The British author’s remarkable debut uses a gay telephone helpline’s logs as the jumping-off point for a moving and inclusive fusion of personal memoir and cultural document

This Beautiful, Ridiculous City review – New York state of mind

Kay Sohini’s account of leaving Kolkata and sadness behind to build a life in the Big Apple is a stirring tribute to the place that saved her

The Secret Painter by Joe Tucker review – art for art’s sake

This beautifully written tribute to the author’s uncle Eric, whose death revealed hundreds of hidden paintings, serves as a northern corrective to the metropolitan art world

The Sound of Utopia: Musicians in the Time of Stalin review – hymn to the exiled and executed

This moving study of the Russian composers and performers who fell foul of the Soviet dictator features stories that freeze the veins and stir the heart

Dealing With the Dead by Alain Mabanckou review – surreal murder mystery in Congo-Brazzaville

A picaresque tale blends ghosts and ghouls with political satire and a scathing attack on corruption