‘When I read my sister’s stories I think, that’s not what it was like!’: Esther Freud on the perils of writing about family

The Hideous Kinky author has always drawn inspiration from her own experiences. Now her sister Bella is writing her own version of their childhood. Does fact or fiction come closer to the truth, she asks

‘We need to reclaim these words’: Inside England’s first romance-only bookshop catering to record levels of popularity

Saucy Books in London has become the go-to destination for romance readers – but fans say misogyny is stopping the genre getting the recognition it deserves

Our New Gods by Thomas Vowles review – debut queer thriller dares to wade into the muck of modern desire

Compelling and challenging, seductive and sickening, this screenwriter’s first novel grows increasingly unhinged as its pitiable protagonist risks it all for a crush

I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness by Irene Solà review – makes most fiction feel timid

This Catalonian tale of a botched pact with the devil has the demonic excess of a Hieronymus Bosch painting

‘Intense’ novel about robot abused by her boyfriend/owner wins Arthur C Clarke science fiction award

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer wins £2,025 for ‘compelling tale that, like all good stories about robots, is ultimately about the human condition’

The Original by Nell Stevens review – queering the Victorians

This flamboyant tale of fakers and forgery, straddling the turn of the 20th century, is a smart and witty investigation into love and authenticity

‘I’m so humbled’: western Sydney’s Winnie Dunn up for $60,000 Miles Franklin literary award for debut novel

Dunn, the first Tongan novelist published in Australia, is up against two-time winner Michelle de Kretser, who just won the Stella prize

Among Friends by Hal Ebbott review – how to blow up your life

All seems perfect for these rich and successful New Yorkers – until a bond is violently shattered in this sharp and pleasurable debut

Reconstruction review – teens re-enact crimes for state-driven pantomime in communist Romania

Lucian Pintilie’s grimly ironic 1968 film is based on real events, in which delinquents are forced to act out their brawl in front of government cameras

Is he still alive? The mystery of DB Cooper – the hijacker who disappeared

In 1971, a man held a plane to ransom for $200,000, then parachuted out in his suit and dress shoes, never to be seen again. What happened to him?

Simon Majaro obituary

Other lives: Management consultant, author and patron of chamber music

Endling by Maria Reva review – a Ukrainian caper upended by war

Jaw-dropping formal invention turns this witty heist tale of endangered snails and ‘mail-order’ brides into an urgent dispatch about writing during conflict

My perfect holiday reading, by Bernardine Evaristo, David Nicholls, Zadie Smith and more

From novels and short stories, to biography and history, leading authors recommend their favourite recent books and the ones they can’t wait to dive into

Summer reading: the 50 hottest books to read now

From dazzling debuts to unmissable memoirs, prize-winning novels to page-turning histories … Plus our pick of paperbacks and children’s fiction

Chris Hammer: ‘The suburbs can be delightfully sinister. The blandness is a great setting for crime books’

The novelist reflects on his trip along the drought-stricken Murray-Darling that prompted the leap into writing and how the Australian bush inspires his bestselling crime fiction