Matt Haig: ‘I use Winnie-the-Pooh as a pencil sharpener for the mind’

The author on how AA Milne and Emily Dickinson helped him through illness, being inspired by Stephen King and why he thinks Graham Greene is one of the best

Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane review – atmospheric stories linked by a murderer’s crimes

McFarlane’s lyrical follow-up to The Sun Walks Down explores the reverberations of violence, and the stories we tell about crime

Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey review – the Irish diaspora

Life in the capital is vividly evoked, in a tale of love and loss spanning four decades

Elaine by Will Self review – all about my mother

An extraordinary portrait of a frustrated and furious 1950s American housewife, based on the diaries of Self’s mother

The Watermark by Sam Mills review – a time-travelling romp

Two lovers are trapped in a series of books, tumbling through different eras and genres, in this superb metafictional adventure

My dad, Munich and the Busby Babes: United in grief

My novel about the plane crash in February 1958, which wiped out a talented generation of footballers, looks at the wider repercussions and the unsung heroes of a national tragedy

‘You need to think of history like a sausage’: Rodney Hall devours one momentous year in his new novel

At 88, the two-time winner of the Miles Franklin award has captured the grand geopolitical tangle of 1954 in his ambitious 14th novel, Vortex

If Only by Vigdis Hjorth review – love will tear her apart

The pursuit of an unprepossessing academic is pushed to its tragicomic limits in this highly pleasurable tale of unrequited passion

Dogs and Monsters by Mark Haddon review – myth and legend refocused in deft short stories

The author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time gives fresh legs to the Minotaur, Actaeon, his hounds and more

‘I feel like when I’m 50 people will take me seriously’: novelists Eliza Clark and Julia Armfield in conversation

The two authors, who became friends during lockdown, discuss their experiences in the UK publishing industry, the day job, and books they love

The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer review – a not so smashing follow-up

The comedian’s flights of fancy are again to the fore in this sequel to his award-winning crime caper, but sadly, momentum and intrigue are a little lacking

The best new novels for autumn 2024, from Sally Rooney to Jonathan Coe and Haruki Murakami

The biggest names are back in a stellar season for fiction, with rip-roaring feminist horror, revenge tales, family sagas, spy romps and more. Here’s our essential guide

In brief: Peggy: A Novel; Oaklore: Adventures in a World of Extraordinary Trees; My Men – reviews

Rebecca Godfrey’s fictionalised biography of Peggy Guggenheim is full of adventure; Jules Acton’s woodland wisdom is infectious; and Victoria Kielland’s novel gets into the mind of the first female US serial killer

Roddy Doyle: ‘People used to say I was undermining family life … ludicrous stuff’

The Dublin author once caused outrage for writing about domestic abuse. As he publishes his third Paula Spencer novel, he talks about optimism, new Irish fiction – and the genius of Roy Keane

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner review – double dealing in deepest France

Longlisted for this year’s Booker prize, Kushner’s cleverly paced tale of espionage, narrated by a ‘wild and boastful’ agent provocateur, juggles a killer plot with anarchy, agriculture and prehistory, making for her most entertaining novel yet