Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey review – emotionally engaging city saga
A complex relationship unfolding over half a century is at the heart of the elegant and largely successful ninth novel by the Irish novelist
The Silence of the Choir by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr review – a masterly tale of African refugees in rural Sicily
The multilayered second novel by the Senegal-born author is a powerful plea for compassion in the face of hatred
In brief: A Piece of Work; The Mighty Red; Jerusalem – review
Simon Russell Beale’s memoir favours Shakespearean insight over showbiz gossip; a love triangle continues Louise Erdrich’s literary winning streak; and a new edition brings the holy city’s epic history up to date
Stuart Murdoch: ‘I feel like this book will be the Trainspotting of ME’
The Belle and Sebastian musician on his new novel, inspired by his years of illness, choirs and his love of Victorian authors
On my radar: Daisy Johnson’s cultural highlights
The trailblazing novelist on the joys of coastal bakeries, writers’ habits and an online boat-tracking map
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman audiobook review – a mesmerising reading by Ruth Wilson
The actor narrates the first book in the author’s beloved His Dark Materials trilogy, giving a richly textured performance
Elizabeth Strout: ‘I would never ask someone to read my books!’
The Pulitzer winner on rereading Virginia Woolf, falling out of love with John Cheever, and the Pushkin story that made her cry
Small Rain by Garth Greenwell review – the lessons of pain
The author of Cleanness considers the physicality of suffering through the experiences of a poet hospitalised during Covid
The Degenerates by Raeden Richardson review – ambitious debut pulses with life and language
A young woman grapples with the limits of storytelling and language to do justice to the lives of those on society’s fringes
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enríquez review – gothic horror with a twist
This Argentinian short story collection is at its best when it breaks from convention
Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans review – a deeply pleasurable postwar tale
This family saga set in a country house at the end of the second world war is a warm, funny exploration of domestic life and social change
Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst review – his finest novel yet
Gay life in England across the decades, from the 1960s to the pandemic, is captured with glowing intensity through an actor’s memories
Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus may have been co-written by forgotten dramatist
Exclusive: Scholar names Henry Porter as likely co-author of 1604 play after linguistic clues in his surviving work
Novelist Rebecca Watson: ‘What are siblings: twisted reflections of ourselves? Allies? Enemies?’
The author of I Will Crash, about an estranged brother and sister, looks at other books on difficult sibling relationships, from authors including Sally Rooney and Julia Armfield
The Women Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle review – his best yet
In the third outing for Paula Spencer – mother, alcoholic, domestic abuse survivor – Doyle captures her strength and vulnerability in prose that radiates energy and life