fiction

rufus sewell and juliet aubrey in a bbc production of middlemarch

In George Eliot’s masterpiece of 19th century realism, characters are confronted with the limits of their individual capacities and visions.

a woman moves under water breathing out bubbles

Deborah Levy’s new novel, set in our pandemic-era present, contains the heat and desire of a European summer and the upward struggle of a soul. Jane Gleeson-White says she ‘read it like a thriller’.

a female student hugs another student while read a book

Half-wild Lyra from Northern Lights was the first female character who felt real to Jane Gleeson-White. Then she met Elena Ferrante’s ‘ferocious, filthy, quicksilver’ Lila, a more complex version.

Two skeleton Halloween decorations in neon light

The link between mental imagery and emotions may be closer than we thought.

history

Our love of history is a jealous one that seeks to control the story and license those permitted to write it, writes Christopher Kremmer.