Emma Cline is longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize with her novel Switzy…

Fiction

1. Switzy by Emma Cline

Switzy tells the story of David Hastings, an elderly man on a flight to London with his young helper, Cody. It soon becomes apparent this will be the last trip Hastings will ever take, as he has decided to travel to Switzerland for assisted suicide. He makes some final visits on his journey, including with his distant daughter Rebecca and an old friend named Tom, with whom he shares a complicated past. The protagonist’s deteriorating mind makes for some surprise – and heartbreaking – revelations and the reminders that he can halt this process at any time build anticipation for whether he will really go through with it. It’s a compelling premise and the novel hinges on what a man is left with when the things that defined him – career, marriage and family – have slipped away.

2. The Complex by Karan Mahajan

Karan Mahajan’s third novel is a sprawling portrait of a family living through a time of change in late 20th-century India. As the nation reckons with controversy over caste-based affirmative action, growing anti-Sikh feeling, and the rise of new political forces, India’s changing identity is reflected through a proud but flawed family’s failure to live up to the legacy of their lauded patriarch. It is a book that lives up to its name – there is a complex cast of characters and a focus that shifts between North Delhi and Midland Michigan, where Sachin and Gita try but fail to outrun the suffocating draw of the clan’s Modern Colony. Mahajan’s eye for detail brings to life a sweeping but ultimately grubby tale that descends into corruption, nepotism and abuse.

3. Gravity Let Me Go by Trent Dalton

Gravity Let Me Go is a novel with a dark heart. At the centre of a whirling dervish of interlinked tales is author Noah Cork – we meet Noah as he has just published a new true crime book about a cold-blooded killer, who left a note for him in his mailbox. Noah’s obsession with writing his book leads him to neglect not only his family, but his own beliefs. He turns from an optimistic soul to someone who sees darkness everywhere, with his terror rising as he becomes more entrenched in solving the murder case that was placed at his front door. Is there more at play than an evil killer? There are supernatural oddities, thrilling twists, long-buried mysteries and fantastical stories as Dalton explores family and marital dynamics, suburban lifestyles and the essence of storytelling. A melancholic fable for the modern age.

Non-fiction

4. The Cauldron: The Making Of The Modern Middle East by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Starting in the embers of the Ottoman Empire, Simon Sebag Montefiore has turned his meticulous eye upon the heroes and tyrants who have ruled and ravaged one of the most explosive regions on the planet. The makings of today’s many crises – not least the rocketing prices we pay at the petrol pump – are traced diligently by the author, who has previously delivered equally weighty tomes on tsarist Russia and Jerusalem. From colonial carve-ups to a potential full-circle moment as Turkish leader Recep Erdogan increasingly flexes his muscles, Montefiore’s exhilarating narrative traces how revolutionaries, poets and despots forged today’s map of states stretching from Morocco to Iran. The list of luminaries including former presidents willing to heap praise on his book both signals the seminal status of Montefiore’s work but also serves as a warning: this is not something to snuggle up with for a little light reading.

Children’s book of the week

5. Colin’s Monster by Holly Swain

Fans of the Colin and Duck series will be delighted by author/illustrator Holly Swain’s latest offering. Once again starring Colin the vampire and his BFF, Duck, the two have settled into life at the castle – after Duck was an initially unwelcome houseguest in 2024’s Colin’s Castle. They might feel settled, but their home is still vast – meaning there’s plenty of unexplored areas. After noticing a strange noise, Colin and Duck search the castle for its source, until there is only one place left to look: the dungeon. As the book’s title suggests, you can probably guess what they find lurking… but a scary tale this is not, rather one of upbeat humour. The third book in the series is definitely the most ambitious – it maybe tries a bit much, when simpler might have been better – but it’s still full of Swain’s signature whimsy, with the loveable characters of Colin and Duck.