Bewilderment Richard Powers
William Heinemann £18.99
After the death of his wife, astrobiologist Theo Byrne struggles to raise their son alone. Things go from bad to worse until he turns to experimental neurotherapy that transforms Robin into a Greta Thunberg-style campaigner. But when the boy becomes a thorn in the ultra-authoritarian government’s side, a Trump-like president decides he must be silenced. Brimming with observations about nature and space, this Booker-longlisted novel is intense and disturbing.