What to read next based on your favourite book of last year

Why The Safekeep fans should read this: Art historian Rebecca Birrell's debut addresses the same themes as Yael van der Wouden's novel, and is equally atmospheric and heavy with escalating tension. 

The world of 1930s Berlin becomes a lethal game of survival for two women consumed by desire and art. Hannah is an artist and a runaway, finally creating and loving without boundaries. But when she begins an affair with a powerful man’s wife, it threatens to do more than ruin their reputations. People are disappearing. The shadows of something unspeakable are growing darker. And Hannah's art could be the thing that secures her survival – or that will deny her any chance of escape.

If you’re looking for: Gripping literary historical fiction, LGBTQIA+ love story, books about art.

What the experts say: 'This book offers us a radiant vision of art against evil, of the endurance of love, ambition and vitality amidst the worst of atrocities and betrayal. A bold, moving novel.' – Megan Hunter, author of Days of Light.

Why Blue Sisters fans should read this: Blue Sisters readers drawn to its emotional complexity and flawed relationships will find Among Friends an equally thought-provoking (and perhaps rather more unsettling) read. Like Mellors' novel, Ebbott's debut explores the aftermath of a seismic event, moving through stylish, affluent settings and exposing the damage underneath.

Amos and Emerson have had an unbreakable friendship for over thirty years. Their wives are close. Their daughters grew up together. They're enjoying a wealthy middle age. But a sudden and shocking act of violence brings long-held resentments and rivalries to the surface and Amos and Emerson each must choose whom and what they love most. 

If you’re looking for: Upper-class discontent, friendship under strain, family secrets, psychological tension, literary page-turners.

What the experts say: 'A hard diamond of a novel, Among Friends is cut through with brilliant prose and unsparing insights into the parts of ourselves that usually go unsaid. Ebbott's sentences are sharp enough to wound, yet alive with tenderness. It’s rare to read a debut this exacting and vital; I have not stopped thinking of it since.' – Coco Mellors, author of Blue Sisters.

Why Heart the Lover fans should read this: Writers & Lovers is the companion novel to Lily King's latest, so if you enjoyed Heart the Lover, now's the perfect time to read the original.

Casey has just lost her mother and is still recovering from the end of a devastating love affair. Living in a rented shed and working on the novel she’s been trying to write for the last six years, at thirty-one she feels too old to be so directionless. Then she meets two very different men, who represent very different futures. This funny and moving novel explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.

If you’re looking for: Literary romance, love triangles, grief, books about books.

What the experts say: 'I loved this book from the first paragraph . . . honest and riveting and insightful about creativity and life. – Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Romantic Comedy.

Why Intermezzo fans should read this: We'll let Sally Rooney herself take this one: 'One of the protagonists of Intermezzo is a competitive chess player, whose obsession with the game has dominated much of his life. Chetna Maroo’s Western Lane offers another portrait of a young person passionately fixated on a competitive hobby: an adolescent girl who becomes obsessed with squash in the wake of her mother’s death. I really loved this book and felt I learned a lot from it.'

Eleven-year-old Gopi has been playing squash for as long as she can remember. When her mother dies, her father enlists her in a brutal training regimen and soon, the game has become her entire world, causing a rift between Gopi and her sisters. On the court, governed by the rhythms of the sport, she feels alive; the serve, the volley, the drive, the shot and its echo. 

If you’re looking for: Grief, sisterhood, sport, coming-of-age stories, minimalist prose.

What the experts say: 'Starting off as an intimate tone poem, this story of a squash-obsessed teenager expands into something with the amplitude, depth, and ringing power of a great symphony.' Aravind Adiga, author of The White Tiger.

Why The Wedding People fans should read this: One book is set in a luxury hotel in Rhode Island, the other a crumbling house share in Belfast, but both use humour and a sharp social setup to dig into something painful – grief, the feeling of being stuck, loneliness – and are, ultimately, hopeful.

Maggie, Harley and Róise are friends on the brink: of triumph, catastrophe, or maybe just finally growing up. Their shared house has been witness to their roaring twenties, but now fault-lines are beginning to show. The three girls are still grieving the tragic death of their friend, Lydia, whose room remains untouched. Their last big fight hangs heavy over their heads, unspoken since the accident. And now they are all beginning to unravel.

If you’re looking for: Female friendship, sharp dialogue, contemporary Irish fiction.

What the experts say: 'Funny, taut and complex' – Wendy Erskine, author of The Benefactors.