Rosarita by Anita Desai – a luminous search for a mother

This short, exquisite novel about a young Indian woman’s encounter with a flamboyant stranger shows that Desai has lost none of her powers

Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan review – old grudges die hard in rural Ireland

The Irish author’s follow-up to his 2012 novel The Spinning Heart revisits its characters 10 years on in a story notable for its rough-edged poetry

‘She did not suffer a fool or hypocrite and loved a good laugh’: novelist Edna O’Brien

An email correspondence about Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadžić led to Ed Vulliamy’s unexpected bond with the Irish author, who died last week aged 93

The Garden by Clare Beams review – Mother Nature’s mystical powers

A mysterious country garden responds to women desperate for a child in a sometimes slow-going chiller

In brief: The Newsmongers; The Night in Venice; Vital Organs – review

An informed history of tabloid journalism; an atmospheric Edwardian-era mystery set in Italy; and a riotous study of famous people’s body parts

Elif Shafak: ‘As a writer in Turkey, you can be attacked, put on trial, imprisoned’

As she confronts the ecological crisis and the persecution of the Yazidi people in her latest novel, the author talks about the difficulty of being a writer – and a woman – in Turkey

‘A rumpled paperback showed me I was not alone’: Charlotte Mendelson, Michael Rosen and others on the books that marked their coming of age

From a children’s classic to a novel of forbidden love, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Kaliane Bradley, Donal Ryan and more recall their formative reading experiences

Rare Singles by Benjamin Myers review – northern soul and second chances

Once again, the author of Cuddy develops a deep sense of place, for a story that takes joy in its characters and their passions

Praiseworthy: why Alexis Wright’s ‘staggering’ epic is sweeping prizes – and challenging readers

The 700+ page novel has been described as a ‘mind-altering experience’ and a massive antidote’ to short attention spans. It’s not an easy read – but it’s not meant to be

New Andy Griffiths, Korean slow food and a frontier war epic: the best Australian books out in August

Each month Guardian Australia editors and critics pick the upcoming titles they have already devoured – or can’t wait to get their hands on

If You Go by Alice Robinson review – what would you do with a second chance at life?

This ambitious novel, which follows a mother who wakes up in the future without her children, wrestles with complex existential questions

Alexis Wright wins second Miles Franklin prize for Praiseworthy

The 73-year-old Waanyi writer takes home $60,000 for Australia’s most esteemed literary prize, after having won in 2007 for her novel Carpentaria

Someone Like Us by Dinaw Mengestu review – haunting American dreams

A journalist travels across the US to unravel the secrets surrounding the life and death of his Ethiopian immigrant father

What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in July

Authors and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

Edna O’Brien in her own words – archive, 1962

20 November 1962: The writer talks to Denis Hart about leaving County Clare for London, debut novel The Country Girls, and her new play