Stephanie Merritt

Two important new books find that the choices – and obstacles – facing mothers and would-be mothers have changed little in the past 50 years

Inspired by research for her role in Sex Education, the actor has collected a rich picture of modern women’s sexuality through clandestine contributions

The American author on her rage-filled new novel about the end of a marriage, the extraordinary response to it, and the authors she thinks are most underrated

This lively, accessible insight into four female writers in Elizabethan and Jacobean England explores the complex political, patriarchal and religious backdrop to their lives

In this sequel to The Searcher, the bestselling author picks up with retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper and co in a richly told tale of tangled loyalties

A biracial family in rural Somerset struggle with relationships and identity in a debut novel of subtle originality

This fascinating and richly detailed study of the evolution of magic in the 15th and 16th centuries reveals that accusations of witchcraft rarely stuck to learned men

The anthropology professor’s account of her conversations with two men living in Regent’s Park brings insights to her own life as well as theirs

Over the course of a day, six astronauts reflect on their relationship with Earth in Harvey’s profound and lyrical fifth novel

The veteran actor’s pragmatism, generosity and wit are to the fore in these reflections on her career – and there’s plenty of room for rude anecdotes

José Luis González Macías became fascinated by the buildings when researching a design project and has published an ‘atlas’ of the most striking examples

This collection of essays and journalism is a poignant reminder of the novelist’s expansive mind, and of what more she might have achieved

A French peasant with an insatiable appetite lives through revolutionary chaos in a vivid, beautifully written historical novel

The classicist on autocrats ancient and modern, free speech in universities and whether Twitter has been a force for good

The American’s latest novel, set in 17th-century New England, is a repetitive but lyrical story of a young woman’s flight from community and her battle for survival

A woman retreats to a forest in northern Italy in an immersive first novel that explores what it means to inhabit a female body yet reject femininity

The author’s search for her childhood friend who shared her dreams of fleeing Clinton, Arkansas, is an elegiac story of lost opportunities

An alien invasion forces humanity to reinvent itself in an ambitious, cinematic thriller that tackles the weightiest issues of our age

The Thelma & Louise star bewails the treatment of women in the film industry in a conversational and often humorous account of her career

The actress suggested that the drama should carry a health warning about its imperfect connection to reality