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
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
Richard Price: ‘I don’t like to write, I just don’t – it’s too much anxiety’
The US novelist and co-writer of The Wire on why his new book isn’t about cops and robbers, his 80s drug addiction and the authors who have inspired him
‘I didn’t want to fit in a box of what an Aboriginal person should write’: how Alexis Wright found her voice
As her ground-breaking biography of Aboriginal activist Tracker Tilmouth is re-issued, the acclaimed Australian author remembers her late friend and talks about her latest novel, Praiseworthy
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
Bapsi Sidhwa obituary
Pakistani author whose novels offered an insight into the Parsi community and highlighted the challenges of reconciling different cultures
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
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
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
The mysterious novelist who foresaw Putin’s Russia – and then came to symbolise its moral decay
Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist?
Ask Me Again by Clare Sestanovich review – a rare kind of friendship
Opposites attract in this subtle coming-of-age debut from an American author known for her short stories
Where to start with: Zora Neale Hurston
From befriending the last African enslaved in America to meeting with zombies in Haiti, the folklorist, anthropologist and Harlem Renaissance writer – who has a novel posthumously published today – was a sensitive chronicler of other people’s lives
What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in December
Authors, journalists and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month
Harlan Coben says ‘quite a bit of tragedy’ in his 20s made him a better writer
Bestselling author and Netflix producer said extensive early experience of grief was ‘very cruel but effective teacher’