Crossroads

By Jonathan Franzen Harpercollins, £20

December 1971, and the five members of the Hildebrandt family are each heading towards a crossroads in their lives. Pastor Russ has a crush on a widowed parishioner, wife Marian wants out of her marriage, son Clem is in the grip of a moral conundrum about the Vietnam War, strait-laced sister Becky is getting involved with a counterculture singer-songwriter, while Perry – the youngest and most volatile – is going off the rails, accelerated by drink and drug use.

This ambitious and absorbing novel is packed to the gills with tricky emotions, illuminated by flashes of intense joy.