Books

On the eve of a new translation of the author’s diaries, the question arises, is the Kafkaesque now just completely normal?

In an extract from his new book, Geoff Dembicki asks how the world would be now if the oil sands industry had not been so successful in blocking action to stop the climate emergency

The prestigious French award is a reliable source of controversy

Authorities initially dismissed the link between Covid and a loss of smell and taste - until they couldn't. Now, a deeply disconcerting experience for millions has prompted a rush of research that will have benefits for the future

Britain needs strong economic growth. One of the world’s leading economists explains why that’s not going to happen

As you’re not having much luck with your emails – perhaps try reading some books instead

Welcome to Europe’s future, in which Britain holds a referendum in 2041 to rejoin the European Union

We are running out of time to manage the coming upheaval before it becomes deadly. We need to change our thinking

The lives of the early 20th-century gentry who fled to safety – but also to poverty – in Paris

From Dracula to The Haunting of Hill House, it all leads back to The Castle of Otranto

The New World’s witch trials are infamous. But the most brutal outbreaks of Satanic panic took place in what is now southern Germany

The messages inside secondhand books are captivating mysteries all of their own

The stripped-down prose and raw honesty of Nobel prize for literature winner Annie Ernaux

One hundred years ago, a malign figure took power in Rome and led a country to disgrace and destruction

Denmark’s biggest literary celebrity returns to the remote peninsula where she grew up

Like so many passionate contemporary ethical conflicts, a row in the publishing world is really about a narcissism of extremely small differences indeed

The late Hilary Mantel’s connection with Europe brought controversy – and some of her best work

At the centre of Samantha Morton’s new series about the Medicis is a maligned queen whose character remains a mystery

Technophobe and literary rover Javier Marías managed to live a life as extraordinary as his work

The French Resistance has often been portrayed in a less than serious light, but that could not be further from the truth, as the memoirs of Marie Chamming’s illustrate

Hamnet’s Maggie O’Farrell creates another major work from one of history’s minor characters

The ‘cli-fi’ genre looks set to play an important role in raising awareness of the environment emergency

Former home secretary Alan Johnson returns with a new novel and some dissenting thoughts on Brexit, Corbyn and Starmer

Venice has produced few major writers – yet few places have inspired so many authors

Authors and readers love live events. But will they survive the attack on Salman Rushdie?

Ten days before Hitler’s suicide, Felix Hartlaub disappeared. But his notebooks live on

This attack is what free speech is all about - not the ravings of Nadine Dorries

A stunning new novel captures the weight of history on a country rinsed with regrets

In spite of human rights and its ongoing threat to Taiwan, Brexit and concerns over the union could soon force us to align with the communist state

HV Morton was a pioneering travel writer of genius.. and also a philandering, racist snob

With Nineteen Eighty-Four more relevant than ever, a group of Orwell enthusiasts – in special company – visits the remote house on the Inner Hebridean island of Jura where he wrote his dystopian masterpiece

As the country faces its greatest crisis, a writer has delivered one of its greatest novels