Sara Baume on changing direction and returning to the visual artsHaving gathered plaudits for her early writing, and now with an autobiographical novel just released, Baume is going back to her roots
Raw novel charts the power of human connectionFiction; All We Shall Know, By Donal Ryan, Doubleday Ireland, €20
Sympathetic insight into the life of a modern American womanJessica Winter has created a hugely sympathetic narrator
Pierre’s merciful Release lends a hand to all aspiring writersRelease the Bats: Writing, Your Way Out of It, By DBC Pierre
Atwood goes apocalyptic with mixed resultsLiterary fiction; The Heart Goes Last, By Margaret Atwood, Bloomsbury, €25.50
A New Yorker critic explores the raw power of literatureNon-fiction: The Nearest Thing to Life. By James Wood. Jonathan Cape, €17.50.
Modern gothic horror marks an assured debutFictuion: The Loney. By Andrew Michael Hurley. John Murray, €17.25.
Against the norm? Child-free writers explain themselvesNon-fiction: Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids. Edited by Meghan Daum. Picador, €23.90.
An avalanche of grief portrayed through vivid proseThe Possibilities. By Kaui Hart Hemmings. Jonathan Cape, €17.
Tyler’s narrative genius is rooted in the ordinaryA Spool of Blue Threa. By Anne Tyler Chatto & Windus, €17. Reviewed by Sarah Gilmartin.
Story of a separation is crafted with genuine skillThe Playground. By Julia Kelly. Quercus, €14.99. Reviewed by Sarah Gilmartin.