Love & Fame Susie Boyt Virago €16.77

In Boyt’s sophisticated tale of bereavement, the lives of two young women collide following the death of the actor John Swift. His daughter Eve, a compulsive worrier who has just married an anxiety expert, finds herself devastated; meanwhile, Rebecca Melville – a journalist still mourning the loss of her mother – is sent to look for a darker side to ‘the nicest man in England’. How far is she prepared to ignore the family’s feelings, and what will she discover? Despite its subject, the book has a strong vein of humour, but grief is a messy business, so don’t expect a neat ending.

Anthony Gardner