BEGINNING MIDDLE END by Valeria Luiselli (4th Estate £16.99, 368pp)

Luiselli’s most recent outing, Lost Children Archive, was nominated for a clutch of awards, and this novel was widely tipped for a 2026 Booker Prize nod.

It failed to make the cut, but it is nonetheless ambitious, richly suggestive and current in its consideration of migration and climate crisis.

Our protagonists are a mother and a daughter, travelling in Sicily against a background of wildfires and an erupting Etna.

The mother, an author, is grappling with her latest book, and if Beginning Middle End has a plot, then it’s about those foundational elements of narrative itself.

The myth of the shape-shifting Greek god Proteus is a touchstone for Luiselli’s characters, and the book itself questions and plays with form throughout, including a daring but satisfying late twist.

SKY CITY by Jacqueline Crooks (Jonathan Cape £18.99, 384pp)

FIRE Rush, Crooks’ Women’s Prize shortlisted debut, earned praise from Maggie O’Farrell and Bernadine Evaristo, among others.

This is another impressive, singular outing, set in the 1990s and following Jaycee who, after a spell in a homeless hostel, now lives in a futuristic housing estate in north London.

Jaycee has carved out an existence following devastating abuse at the hands of her stepfather, but carries trauma deep in her body that thwarts her relationship with her newly resurfaced first love, Sol.

Meanwhile, her go-getting hairdresser friend Ella-G is forging a career in the glamorous New York music world, but danger is ever-present.

With its subtle frisson of the uncanny, this fluid, hypnotic and psychologically powerful novel compels the reader with its internal music and foreshadowing of a bold, shattering denouement.

CHILDREN OF THE WILD by Kevin Powers (Atlantic £14.99, 320pp)

Powers is still best known for his acclaimed debut, The Yellow Birds, which drew on his experiences as a veteran of the Iraq War. However, it’s an earlier conflict that is at the centre of this sweeping tale.

We first meet Roy Young as an entitled 19-year-old in 1917. The scion of a Virginian family, his future seems secure, including marriage to the local minister’s daughter Samantha. But then the arrival of Ennis, a mysterious young man seemingly without a past, changes everything, and before long the pair are shipping out for the hellscapes of France.

Powers does full justice to the horrors of the front, but this epic story of love, friendship and endurance suffers from some thin characterisation when it comes to supporting cast. But between the darkness of history and the shadow of another war yet to come, it’s ultimately a moving reminder of the value of the present.