A feud ‘straight out of Succession’, a rental thriller and an ‘absolute ripper’: the best Australian books out in April

Each month Guardian Australia editors and critics pick the upcoming titles they have devoured – or can’t wait to get their hands on

Under Water by Tara Menon review – love, loss and a longing for the ocean

This debut about female friendship and environmental fragility set after the 2004 tsunami in Thailand is strong on grief, but the storytelling remains uneven

‘Hope, insight and burning humanity’: 2026 International Booker prize shortlist announced

The six finalists include Marie NDiaye and Yáng Shuāng-zǐ alongside Daniel Kehlmann’s second nomination for the £50,000 prize

Transcription by Ben Lerner review – a stunning exploration of technology and storytelling

Ranging from quantum mechanics to eating disorders to the nature of fiction, this is a breathtaking interrogation of family, connection and memory

Lázár by Nelio Biedermann review – a Hungarian epic from a 22-year-old author

The fortunes of a single family are entwined with the turmoil of the 20th century in this ambitious, gothic-inflected debut

‘Serve, smile, procreate’: Yesteryear author Caro Claire Burke on the rise of the tradwife

As her dark debut about a tradwife who wakes up in the past is made into a film by Anne Hathaway, the novelist explores the sinister truth behind the barefoot influencers

‘I was in the pit of despair’: Non-speaking autistic novelist Woody Brown on his journey from write-off to writer

As a child, Brown was underestimated, infantilised and dismissed by specialists and teachers. Now 28, he has written an acclaimed debut novel set in an adult day care centre that gives people like him a voice

Love Lane by Patrick Gale review – a homecoming tale with echoes of Brokeback Mountain

This kindly and companionable story of a man returning to 50s England after living in Canada offers a colourful evocation of the times

A Far-flung Life by ML Stedman review – a masterful examination of loss

In her follow-up to The Light Between Oceans, the Western Australian author follows generations of a farming family as they weather calamity and change

‘Effortlessly hip’: two novels named joint winners of Queen Mary small press fiction prize

Rebecca Gransden’s Figures Crossing the Field Towards the Group and Nell Osborne’s Ghost Driver ‘crossed the line together’ to take award previously known as the Republic of Consciousness prize

The Two Roberts by Damian Barr audiobook review – love and lost dreams in bohemian London

This fictionalised account of the relationship between real-life artists Bobby MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun vividly depicts their romance and rise to fame – and the fall from grace that followed

My last fight with my Palestinian father still haunts me. Neither of us could bury the past

My eternally exiled father was dying and witnessing a siege on Gaza. Afterwards I could go home – but he couldn’t

Permanence by Sophie Mackintosh review – high-concept adultery fable

Unfaithful lovers escape to an uncanny alternate world, in this compelling allegory for infidelity and desire

Black Bag by Luke Kennard review – a campus comedy for our end times

Drawing on a real-life 1960s experiment, this story of an out-of-work actor paid to cover himself in a black leather bag fizzes with wit and invention

The News from Dublin by Colm Tóibín review – subtle short stories about being far from home

Grief, betrayal and moral complications are explored across nine tales of quiet power that take us from Argentina to County Wexford