Shoko’s Smile by Choi Eunyoung review – intimate connections and political backdrops
The South Korean author displays subtlety and precision in this collection of touching short stories
In brief: Writing in the Dark; Dust Off the Bones; Looking for the Durrells – review
Gossip and glamour with the 1940s literati, the return of a magnificent villain and an enchanting trip to Corfu
The best recent thrillers – review roundup
Paula Hawkins, Stephen King, Laura Lippman and Joanne Harris return with sublime tales of the unexpected
The Country of Others by Leïla Slimani review – between Maroc and a hard place
A woman quits France for Morocco in 1946 but is soon adrift, in a novel overly indebted to its author’s family backstory
Blank Pages and Other Stories by Bernard MacLaverty review – thrilling and cathartic
This strikingly fresh new collection from a master of the genre addresses mortality head on
Martin Amis: ‘Style isn’t something you apply later’
The novelist on making Philip Larkin his fictional father, why writing has become a battle, and his new work about race in the US
Pat Barker on The Silence of the Girls: ‘The Iliad is myth – the rules for writing historical fiction don’t apply’
The Booker-winning novelist knew when she read the Iliad that she would write about Briseis one day
The timeless allure of King Arthur’s Gawain: ‘He feels like the first modern protagonist’
Most recently portrayed by Dev Patel in The Green Knight, Gawain is Arthurian legend’s most complex character. Director David Lowery and others talk about how the knight has changed over centuries
Monument Maker by David Keenan review – an experimental compendium
Science fiction, theology, puzzles and a whole lot of sex … this mammoth novel is one extended stylish flourish that threatens to lose the plot
Damon Galgut: ‘After reading Roald Dahl, the world never looked the same’
The Booker-longlisted author on the dazzling wordplay of Nabokov, feeling bemused by Haruki Murakami and struggling to finish Dickens
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak review – superlative storytelling
A tale of love and division moves between postcolonial Cyprus and London, exploring themes of generational trauma and belonging
I used to think life was too short to read the same book twice. Not any more
I’m planning to reread the books I once loved, hoping they’ll reinvigorate me at a time when all our batteries are flashing low
The Others by Mark Brandi review – sanctuary from a plague or something more sinister?
Author’s third novel is an uneasy, haunting tale of fear and isolation, told through the eyes of a child and let down only by its uneven pace
Paul by Daisy Lafarge review – a beautifully observed debut
A young female graduate is blind to the grim truth about the older man she falls for when she takes a job on his farm in the Pyrenees
‘I’ve been poor for a long time’: after many rejections, Karen Jennings is up for the Booker
The South African author struggled to find a publisher for her Booker-nominated novel An Island, which only had a print-run of 500 copies. She talks about rejection, her country and believing in herself