As summer slowly succumbs to the gradual approach of autumn, we look at the fiction which will be the talk of the new season. The novelist Zadie Smith tells us why she has returned to the streets of Willesden for her latest novel, NW, despite living in New York. Dialogue comes easily, she explains, but finding a structure to encompass the fragmentation of modern urban life is more of a struggle.
James Meek, whose novel The Heart Broke In has been described as "an old-fashioned story of modern times", hymns the eternal appeal of Leo Tolstoy, even as he attempts to explore the furthest frontiers of the scientific imagination.
Plus, Alison Flood joins us to run through some of the treats in store in the coming months, from JK Rowling's first novel for adults to a retelling of the Grimm fairytales from Philip Pullman.
Reading list
NW by Zadie Smith (Hamish Hamilton)
The Heart Broke In by James Meek (Canongate)
