A sweltering tale of corruption and colonialism, set in India during the reign of the East India Trading Company. The first novel by historian Carter, The Strangler Vine is a adventurous, wrong-couple romp in the vein of Holmes and Watson.
Read an interview with MJ Carter
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Most famous for writing the travel narrative/life advice phenomenon Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert's second work of fiction follows the childhood and adult life of Alma Whittaker, a woman raised with a love for flora and fauna who is driven to Tahiti on a journey of self-discovery. The Observer's Elizabeth Day called it "one of the best novels I have read in years". It is also the only fiction book to be nominated for the 2014 Wellcome Prize for scientific writing.
Read Elizabeth Day's review
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A fast-paced debut novel that chronicles the lives of five young people trying to live and love in a small town in Pakistan. Bhutto, the granddaughter of assassinated Pakistani president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and niece of assassinated prime minister Benazir Bhutto, steers clear of politics to focus on "the ghosts of history".
Interview with Fatima Bhutto
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Winner of the Man Booker prize for this 800-page behemoth, Catton's complex tale is of murder and mystery in 19th-century New Zealand. Its first half chronicles the experiences of 12 men on the same day, 27 January, which the Observer's Lucy Scholes deemed "one of the most beautifully and intricately mapped pieces I've ever read".
Read Lucy Scholes's review
Read Kirsty Gunn's review
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Lahiri's Lowland looks at the life and relationships of two Bengali brothers growing up in 1960s Calcutta. James Lasdun's Guardian review said: "The tempo is stately, but there is enough going on to keep the reader's attention." The Lowland was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker prize.
Read James Lasdun's review
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Tartt's much-awaited third novel after The Secret History and The Little Friend, The Goldfinch chronicles the life of 10-year-old Theo, who steals a painting from an Amsterdam gallery after his mother dies. A story of obsession, survival and self-invention, Kamila Shamsie's Guardian review declared it "an astonishing achievement."
Read Kamila Shamsie's review
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A tale of motorcycles, experimental art and alternative politics which divided critics, The Flamethrowers has already been nominated for several awards, including the inaugural Folio prize. The Guardian's Hermione Hoby considered it “so good, it's a little frightening".
Read Hermione Hoby's review
Read an interview with Rachel Kushner
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A cross between a comedy and a whodunnit, The Dogs of Littlefield revolves around a series of unexplained canine deaths in a small Massachusetts town. The Observer's Alex Clark called it "an intriguing portrait of the kind of loneliness that can only exist in a crowd". Berne won the Orange prize in 1999 for her debut novel, A Crime in the Neighbourhood.
Read Alex Clark's review
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Guilt, lies and muddled intentions, set in the fictional town of Shirley Falls, Maine – a dying town full of empty factories and poor migrants. The Guardian's Shena Mackay called it "a complex and bold examination of political and family relationships". Strout is a previous Pultizer prize winner.
Read Shena Mackay's review
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The Bear follows two small children left alone in the Canadian wilderness after their parents are attacked by a bear. The second novel by the Canadian novelist, The Bear is a suspense story of love, courage and survival.
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Quindlen looks at the life of Rebecca Winter, a photographer who has become an unlikely icon for women. But her career is slowing and her bank balance shaky, so she flees the city for rural seclusion.
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Young Pearl's world is defined by cruelty – often her own, showing all the pigheadedness of a neglected child who sees no boundary between her own wishes and other people. Eimear McBride, a fellow longlister, wrote in the Guardian that Kay Davies' book was "a collection of fine mosaics best viewed as a whole".
Read Eimear McBride's review
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The third book in Atwood's eponymous trilogy, set in a future where Earth has been devastated by a pandemic. Featuring government intervention, religion, animal rights and the fate of the environment, Maddaddam focuses on the strengths and failures of humanity. Justin Cartwright in the Observer called it "playful, funny and mildly satirical".
Read Justin Cartwright's review
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After winning a clutch of awards for her first book, After the Fire, A Still Small Voice and being named on Granta's list of best British novelists under the age of 40, Wyld has produced a tale of isolation and fear set in Australia and the UK. The Observer's Tim Lewis called it "a tale that oozes, drips, throbs with menace".
Read Tim Lewis's review
Read Kathleen Jamie's review
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A tautly-written debut which tells the story of a single mother and her missing son, a member of the US special operations forces. As an Iraq veteran, Carpenter brings unique nuance and emotion to the tale.
Paul Harris discusses the emerging generation of Iraq veteran writers
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A character study of a woman condemned to death in Iceland, this is a haunting fiction inspired by true events – from a debut Australian novelist. The Guardian's Lucy Scholes called it "a debut of rare sophistication and beauty".
Read Lucy Scholes's review
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Set in 1988, Almost English tells the story of Marina Farkas, a 16-year-old who has swapped Bayswater for Dorset, and Ealing Girls' for Combe Abbey, a boarding school marked by the rituals and social ambition its parents expect. Alex Clark called it "a little masterpiece of characterisation". Almost English was longlisted for the Man Booker in 2013.
Read Alex Clark's review
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Also nominated for the Folio prize, McBride's novel is entirely in the second-person, the "you" in the book being the narrator's fiercely loved, brain-damaged brother. Anne Enright's Guardian review said: "The adventurous reader … will find that they have a real book on their hands, a live one, a book that is not like any other."
Read Anne Enright's review
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Adichie's third novel is a dissection of race in Britain and America, touching on the lives of two characters linked by their experiences of loneliness, identity and loss. The Guardian's Elizabeth Day called it "a deeply felt book, written with equal parts lyricism and erudition". Adichie won the Orange prize in 2007 for Half of a Yellow Sun. Americanah is her third novel.
Read Elizabeth Day's review
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Peter Faber and Katherina Spinell are married by proxy, by an army chaplain. They don't actually meet until Peter gets honeymoon leave in pre-war Berlin. Their honeymoon is the prelude to a marriage marked by cruelty and violence: Peter spends his nights hurting Jewish children and comes home to Katherina, who never asks questions. Reviewed by Helen Dunmore for the Guardian, she called it: "A bold, honest novel about Nazi greed and moral blankness."
Read Helen Dunmore's review
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