THE BEST NEW FICTION

Haven Emma Donoghue

Picador £16.99

If you think our costof-living crisis is bad, imagine being stuck on a tiny island off the coast of Ireland in the 7th Century. That is the fate of Donoghue’s characters: three monks trying to found a new religious settlement while sleeping rough and living off roast puffin and soggy turnips. Madmen or visionaries? Readers must decide for themselves, but the novel certainly revisits the past in an imaginative way. Given the arcane subject matter, it is a remarkably engrossing tale.