Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey review – bearing witness to the Holocaust
As the lives of a physician, an SS officer and his wife intersect at Buchenwald, so too do their lies and self-deceits, in this lucid and careful novel
Lee Child: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale changed me – hopefully for the better’
The Jack Reacher novelist on Shakespeare’s casual knack for magnificence, finally discovering the joy of Jane Eyre, and the transformative power of Margaret Atwood
Losing Face by George Haddad review – a rich, complex story of consent and coming of age
Set among a migrant family in western Sydney, Haddad’s novel deals with masculinity and rape culture – without the luxury of easy answers
Short story writer Deesha Philyaw: ‘I wanted to challenge the church’s obsession with sex’
The author of the acclaimed The Secret Life of Church Ladies on the Black American Christian community, sexual shame and coming to terms with her queerness
Devil House by John Darnielle review – mysteries and rumours
A true-crime author investigates an occult double murder in this metafictional puzzle from the Mountain Goats frontman
Here Goes Nothing by Steve Toltz – fabulously funny visions of an afterlife
A man haunts his previous existence in this laser-sharp novel that raises heady existential questions
Emergency by Daisy Hildyard review – a dark pastoral
Humans and ecosystems are intertwined in this meditative, beautifully sustained novel about coming of age in a globalised world
Elspeth Barker obituary
Journalist and author whose darkly funny 1991 novel O Caledonia has found its place as a Scottish classic
‘The pendulum has swung’: Why we female Trinidadian writers are having our moment
Monique Roffey, the Costa-winning author of The Mermaid of Black Conch, on the lit-boom that’s happening on the Caribbean island
The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers review – grand designs
In this folksy, magnetic tale, two outsiders seek healing and enlightenment by creating crop formations in a Wiltshire field
Reward System by Jem Calder review – generation Zzzz
Six interlinked stories aim to capture the uncertainty of young adulthood today with mixed results
The Guardian view on Trinidad writers: women take the lead
Editorial: The latest shortlist for the Women’s prize for fiction is a show of strength for a small island
In brief: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain; The Slow Road to Tehran; Drift – review
George Saunders leads a writing masterclass, Rebecca Lowe goes on a cycling adventure and Caryl Lewis makes a magical English-language fiction debut
Orlam by PJ Harvey review – musician’s vision of a curious childhood
Set in a magical realist outpost of the West Country, the singer-songwriter’s novel-in-verse delights in Dorset dialect and folklore
Other Houses by Paddy O’Reilly review – grim Aussie tale avoids trauma porn territory
A novel about the working poor struggling to stay afloat in Melbourne may sound like old hat, but Other Houses is a striking and sensitive work