Ian McEwan's latest novel, set in 2119, imagines a Britain reduced to a mountainous archipelago after a Russian warhead triggers a tsunami. The story follows literature professor Tom Metcalfe as he searches for a lost poem by Francis Blundy, a poet of our time. The novel explores themes of climate crisis and cultural memory, with the Bodleian Library now perched on a Snowdonian peak.
Virginia Evans's The Correspondent, winner of the Women's prize for fiction, centres on 73-year-old Sybil Van Antwerp, who writes letters to friends and family. The narrative covers her legal career, the loss of her son, and her impending blindness, celebrating the art of correspondence.
Irvine Welsh's Men in Love serves as a direct sequel to Trainspotting, following Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie as they navigate adult life. The novel features alternating first-person chapters and showcases Welsh's characteristic linguistic flair, though it has been criticised for its length and occasional juvenile tone.
