The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice. Set as the Vietnam War draws to a close, Wandering Souls follows three children forced to flee their homeland for Hong Kong in a little boat, their parents in another. Hensher has always been masterly in marrying observations of the minutiae of the lives of ‘ordinary’ people with huge, soaring themes – and To Battersea Park is no exception. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. A feminist retelling of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, as seen from the perspective of Winston Smith’s lover Julia.

Then there’s tabloid reporter Tom Hargreaves whose journalism career provides a well worked adjunct to the family drama unfolding. The phenomenon of parasocial relationships – the bonds we think we have with people we only know online – are expertly dissected by Gibsone in her account of living digitally in the 21st century.About two-thirds of the way through, John remembers how, when Carmel was small, she asked her mother why he, her father, was always shovelling food into his mouth as if someone were about to take it away.

With this stunning second novel, she brings us the heart-wrenching story of a young Irish woman and her family, broken by societal prejudice and the brutality of tabloid journalism, and confirms her place as a leading voice in new Irish writing.

The story follows an Irish family in early 90s London who become tabloid scapegoats after tragedy strikes in their neighbourhood.

If Nolan’s debut, Acts of Desperation, was a ‘millennial novel’ (as others have argued), its follow-up resists such blasé categorisation, a stark departure, although still cleverly informed by the same sensibilities. For a long time this tension wasn’t a choice, largely because I hadn’t figured out how to hold down a permanent job or make enough money to relax for more than a week at a time.In the conversations that follow, the family are forced to confront the secrets, prejudices and silences that have trapped them for generations. By 2020 I had sold my novel and had the means to support myself and rent an apartment without constant worry, which was just as well as I’m not sure how I would have continued my previous cat-sitting, subletting way of life during the pandemic. The broadcaster on how Britons’ relationships with dogs has influenced the country’s history and culture. When three-year-old Mia Enright’s dead body is found by the bins the next morning, with bruising around the neck, Tom is doggedly determined to get the scoop.