A Room Above the Shop by Anthony Shapland: A potent work above frustrating love that dispels initial scepticism
I’m willing to overlook the author’s refusal to name his two male protagonists, who end up in an sexual relationship neither anticipated
Flesh by David Szalay: Compulsively readable with more twists than the road to west Cork
John Boyne hails the Hungarian-English author’s best novel yet
Dark Like Under by Alice Chadwick: A brilliant debut novel
Setting this work across a single day offers insights into the politics of school life
Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth) by Markus Zusak: When the family pets are ‘complete b*stards’ but also ‘beautiful darlings’
A frequently hilarious and also heartbreaking memoir about dogs you would cross the street to avoid
The Whale Tattoo and The Gallopers by Jon Ransom: A pair of intriguing, imperfect novels
It will be interesting to see whether the author is willing to move out of his comfort zone
Season by George Harrison & Greatest of All Time by Alex Allison: A brace of novels that hit the back of the net
One book concerns itself with long-suffering fans, while other focuses on love affair between players
The Party by Tessa Hadley review: Immersive novella set in postwar Bristol
Tessa Hadley’s storytelling and linguistic dexterity mines the imbalance between the sexes
The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich: Echoes of Steinbeck in a timeless novel full of strong women
Louise Erdrich takes affectionate look at turbulent teenage trio and landscape that shapes them
The Unfinished Harauld Hughes: In Richard Ayoade’s debut novel, the joke is on the reader
Ayoade’s trademark wit is intact, but the cleverness of the writing only serves to point out the enterprise’s central weakness
The Revenge of Rita Marsh by Nilesha Chauvet: A timely and provocative novel
A book that forces the reader to question the ethics of a character’s actions, offering no simplistic answers
Gabriel’s Moon by William Boyd: Compelling thriller set in the murky underworld of the cold war
This is a complex, credible and compulsive novel from an author who deserves more critical appreciation than he has received
The Watermark by Sam Mills: Bizarre and dizzying novel-within-a-novel
Audacious narrative is filled with engaging characters and entertaining dialogue
The Echoes by Evie Wyld review: Lives in limbo
A ghost is one of the narrators in this engaging novel set between England and Australia
Anyone’s Ghost: Powerful debut about lifelong love for an unattainable boy
August Thompson’s novel revolving around unrequited love is full of loneliness as it sensitively tracks a friendship across a decade
Plaything by Bea Setton review: It’s not just the mice who suffer in this Covid-era novel
A cold novel, then, but one that will remain with John Boyne