Ghost Lover pulls you in with a marriage of craftsmanship and an uncanny talent for saying the unsayable.

The novel might serve its purpose as a light read; syrupy and pleasant enough, but missing enough meat to be memorable.

Hari builds a convincing case: the odds are against us. Almost every digital platform we now rely on is deliberately engineered to steal our attention for as many hours of the day as possible. There is no incentive for this to change.

The premise of Animal is unapologetically bloody from its first passage. After witnessing a former lover commit suicide - a public, gruesome performance seemingly intended to permanently mark her with the tragedy - Joan drives out of New York to a sweltering rented house on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Elly is the debut novel from Berlin-based filmmaker and short story writer Maike Wetzel, translated to English by Lyn Marven. Eerie and lyrical, it offers a unique twist on the well-worn missing persons archetype.

The book shapes itself around the urgent message that domestic violence never looks as simple as we expect…

 …as is usually the case with Gervais’ work, it’s far sweeter, and also much cruder, than anticipated.