Romance on the run in the Old West
Kevin Barry’s new novel The Heart in Winter sets passion against violence on the brutal American frontier.
ByFiction reviews
Discover the best contemporary literature with the New Statesman’s expert reviews. From debut novels to short stories and literary veterans, get inspired here.
The insular world of Rachel Cusk
The novelist’s fans revere her ruthless restraint – but in Parade it leads to a narrative dead end.
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Colm Tóibín’s genre trouble
The Brooklyn sequel Long Island is a rich tale of secrets and betrayal. Is it more than a romance novel?
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Alba de Céspedes’s life of resistance
Informed by the novelist’s fight against Fascism in Italy, Her Side of the Story is a remarkable investigation into selfhood.
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Stephen King’s Carrie and the horror of girlhood
The triumph of the writer’s debut novel, published 50 years ago, is its understanding of a teenage girl’s destructive anger.
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From Lyndsey Stonebridge to Sophie Elmhirst: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Spent Light by Lara Pawson and Moral AI And How We Get There.
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From Philip Ball to Rachael Allen: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring My Friends by Hisham Matar and Veiled Threat by Nadeine Asbal.
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The Wizard of the Kremlin takes us inside the mind of Putin’s spin-master
Giuliano da Empoli’s fictionalised portrait of Vladislav Surkov dramatises the birth of the post-truth world.
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From Bettany Hughes to Aniefiok Ekpoudom: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Our Moon by Rebecca Boyle and Trapped in History by Nicholas Rankin.
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2024: The year in fiction
This year’s books highlights include new works from Kevin Barry, Sarah Perry and Ali Smith.
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From Nathalie Olah to Stephen Marche: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Alexandria by Islam Issa and The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada.
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Karl Ove Knausgaard’s thought experiment
The Norwegian novelist doesn’t just want to show his characters’ inner lives, he wants us to take leave of our…
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From Naomi Alderman to Francis Spufford: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring The Revolutionary Temper by Richard Darnton and The Wisdom of Sheep by Rosamund Young.
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John le Carré, the great deceiver
The duplicity that defined his spy novels also enabled his relentless pursuit of sexual pleasure.
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From Thurston Moore to Camilla Nord: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring The Book at War by Andrew Pettegree and a collection from the Complete Works Poets.
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From Gordon Brown to Natalie Haynes: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Family Meal by Bryan Washington and Pure Wit by Francesca Peacock.
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From Duncan Hamilton to Lydia Kiesling: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring The Story of Scandinavia by Stein Ringen and Big Meg by Tim and Emma Flannery.
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From Ben Lerner to Simon Heffer: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang and Stay True by Hua Hsu.
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Richard Osman’s bland Britain
How did the TV presenter’s terminally twee stories of death and Waitrose become the bestselling novels in the UK?
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Anne Enright’s damaged lives
In The Wren, The Wren, the Irish author rigorously traces the line between love and trauma.
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