This follow-up, set 20 years on, kicks off with a marriage in crisis and skilfully conveys how blind we are to our own motivationsThe great thing about writing a sequel is that you can go straight in with the action, and no need to worry about setting the scene. Colm Tóibín certainly does that in Long Island, the follow-up to his 2009 novel Brooklyn....

The US-based writer and translator on his new novel set in 1930s Vienna, his deep connection with the authors he has worked with and why he always returns to Donna Tartt’s The Secret HistorySam Taylor, 53, was living in rural France with four well-received novels to his name when he realised that he wasn’t going to be able to support his family through...

Game-changing books that offer hope, as recommended by speakers at this year’s Hay festival, including Theresa May, Tom Holland, Helen Garner and Jon Ronsonchosen by Lenny Henry, actor and comedian Continue reading...

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A vivid cultural of digestion, from ancient Greece to All-BranSome people, observed Samuel Johnson, “have a foolish way of not minding, or pretending not to mind, what they eat. For my part, I mind my belly very studiously, and very carefully; for I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else.” And while we are...

The Chinese American author of The Book of Goose pays tribute to the late writer, reflecting on the rich rewards of revisiting her stories over many yearsA life in quotes: Alice MunroFive of the best Alice Munro short storiesTwo days after Alice Munro died, I went to an event in New York, and found myself among strangers. A woman asked me if I’d heard...