HISTORICAL

THE MIRROR & THE LIGHT by Hilary Mantel (4th Estate €23.80)

THE final instalment of Mantel’s life of charismatic Thomas Cromwell is magnificent. Packed to the gills with intrigue, plot and counterplot, this richly detailed, epic sweep of a novel tells the story of Cromwell’s downfall at the hands of capricious King Henry VIII, who rules over a country that is sullen with suspicion and secrets. A masterpiece.

HAMNET by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press €19.99)

WINNER of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, this outstanding study of love and loss explores the death of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet from the perspective of his wife, Agnes. Gifted with second sight, adept at herbal cures, but unable to save her son, Hamnet’s death unmoors her from everything she knows and loves in this lyrical study of grief.

MISS BENSON’S BEETLE by Rachel Joyce (Doubleday €18.20)

IT’S England, 1950, and prim teacher Margery Benson is on a mission to discover a mysterious golden beetle in faraway New Caledonia. Accompanied by the irrepressible Enid Pretty, they embark on a grand adventure, which is as much about second chances and emotional courage as it i s about trekking through dangerous terrain.

ACTRESS by Anne Enright (Cape €19.60)

KATHERINE O’DELL is t he starry heart of Enright’s elegant novel. It follows Katherine’s career trajectory, from her youthful heyday in Hollywood to depression in Dublin, as seen through the eyes of her daughter. It brilliantly explores the corrosive nature of celebrity, while taking a candid look at the complexities of maternal affection.