Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World by Dan Hancox review – a hymn to coming together
A celebration of ‘capitalism-subverting, ego-transcending’ mass gatherings – from Peterloo to M25 raves, Orgreave to Notting Hill carnival
The Shetland Way by Marianne Brown review – a daughter’s journey to the heart of the climate crisis
An environmental writer returns to her father’s home for his funeral in a family memoir that becomes an examination of Shetland’s crucial role in the energy landscape
Alive in the Merciful Country by AL Kennedy review – peace of mind meets a monster from the past
This provocative novel contains two narratives: the memoir of an activist starting a new life and the violent manifesto of a spy cop who knew her
The Princess of 72nd Street by Elaine Kraf review – charming portrait of an artist in her own world
Kraf’s charming and challenging fourth and final novel, now published in the UK, is narrated by a New Yorker who experiences psychotic episodes
Medieval Women: In Their Own Words review – a bracing cold shower with Joan of Arc and co
A letter from the French saint and a lethal shopping list are among the stars of a mind-bending show of the words, mystical visions and everyday lives of women from 1100 to 1500
In brief: Sweat; Wild Grace; In Search of Amrit Kaur – review
A clammy revenge thriller set within the fitness industry; the story of modern dance’s pioneering women; and a quest for an enigmatic wartime heroine
A Second Act by Dr Matt Morgan review – what nearly dying can teach us about living
In this sequel to his bestseller, Critical, the intensive care doctor draws lessons on the joys of a ‘second life’ from the experiences of patients who have flatlined and been revived
The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale review – a rollicking but uneven highlight reel
Hard-working and joyful ensemble cast makes the daffy and daggy edges of this abridged Tolkien retelling easier to bear
The Artist by Lucy Steeds review – mystery and romance in Provence
An aspiring English journalist enters the life of a fabled painter in this seductive debut of art, love and family secrets
The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – reviews roundup
Aerth by Deborah Tomkins; Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix; Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao; The Garden by Nick Newman
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman review – meditations on life’s brevity
If time management is all life is, asks the author and narrator, why do we treat it as such a depressingly narrow-minded affair?
The Sound of Utopia by Michel Krielaars review – the musicians persecuted by Stalin
A revelatory account of the composers and performers whose lives were determined by the whims of a dictator
Nesting by Roisín O’Donnell review – a tense portrait of coercive control
Trapped between a controlling partner and a housing system in crisis, a mother in Dublin struggles to protect her children and herself
The Bright Side by Sumit Paul-Choudhury review – keep the glass half full
A powerfully inspiring study of optimism that avoids farcical good cheer
Oromay by Baalu Girma review – an Ethiopian classic
This political satire of propaganda during the civil war, which is thought to have cost the author his life, gets an English translation at last