Ruth Ozeki’s ‘complete joy’ of a novel wins Women’s prize for fiction
The Book of Form and Emptiness is praised by judges for its ‘sparkling writing, warmth, intelligence and poignancy’
Top 10 forests in fiction
Daphne du Maurier, Mervyn Peake and Angela Carter are among the authors enchanted by these shadowy borderlands of civilisation
Parts of John Hughes’ novel The Dogs copied from The Great Gatsby and Anna Karenina
Australian author denies he is a plagiarist and says he has been ‘influenced by the greats’ of literature
The Visitors by Jessi Jezewska Stevens review – a wild ride into Occupy-era Manhattan
The financial crash and subsequent protests provide points of orientation in a surreal tale of love, loss and speculative reality
Thrillers of the month – review
The Rev Richard Coles makes his cosy-crime fiction debut in convincing style, while Robin Morgan-Bentley offers a tense spin on the locked-room mystery
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh review – a carnival of the grotesque
Plot plays second fiddle to humanity’s primal urges in Moshfegh’s charged and outlandish latest novel set in a medieval fiefdom
‘Surreal fable’ by Derek Jarman to be published for the first time
The 10,000-word story about a blind young king and his valet will be released this autumn along with an audio version read by Jarman
The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks review – 1960s gem rescued from obscurity
This caustically comic tale of a disaffected wife, back in print for the first time in half a century with a new introduction by Stewart Lee, is a cause for celebration
Stephen Thompson obituary
Screenwriter and novelist who won a Bafta for his BBC drama, Sitting in Limbo, about his brother’s experiences of being threatened with deportation
In brief: How to Be a Writer; The Saint of Lost Things; Widowland – review
Hilariously candid confessions of a journalist; a psychological drama in Donegal; and a ‘what if’ tale of a feminist ghetto in Nazi Britain
Dark Earth by Rebecca Stott review – magical, mythical historical fiction
The historian brings London’s hidden post-Roman past to vivid life in the story of two Saxon sisters
Faïza Guène: ‘People wanted me to say: Thank you, France’
The French-Algerian author on teenage fame, the parallels between her and Zinedine Zidane, and why she admires Bernardine Evaristo
Tiepolo Blue by James Cahill review – a bold debut of psychosexual awakening
A repressed art historian expands his horizons in a 90s-set novel that moves from campus satire to something queerer in every sense of the word
The Guardian view on James Joyce’s Ulysses: a 100-year-old masterpiece
Editorial: Bloomsday, the annual celebration of this great Dublin novel, is a good moment to reflect on its enduring significance
The best recent science fiction and fantasy – review roundup
Ordinary Monsters by JM Miro; In the Heart of Hidden Things by Kit Whitfield; The Sanctuary by Andrew Hunter Murray; The Splendid City by Karen Heuler; and Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada