Oh William!

Elizabeth Strout Viking £14.99

This latest instalment in the life of Strout’s inimitable heroine, Lucy Barton, takes its title from an exclamation that often passes through her mind when dealing with her ex-husband. It’s accompanied by fondness, frustration and occasionally fury as William faces two unpleasant shocks and Lucy tags along for the ride. A shimmering triumph of a novel, it muses delicately on love, loss and the mystery of others.

Hephzibah Anderson