Bitter Orange Tree

Jokha Alharthi, Scribner, £14.99

The second novel from the Booker winner examines love across the generations of one Omani family. Zuhur is struggling to settle into university in England while grieving the loss of her grandmother in Oman. Bint Amir was a central figure in Zuhur’s life. We learn about Bint Amir’s childhood, her struggles, losses, withheld romances and eventual role as matriarch in a family to whom she is not related, but who will grieve her after she’s gone. Beautiful.