George Eliot’s marriage plot
In her work, the novelist developed a radical philosophy of relationships. In her life, she put it into practice.
ByRead all the latest book reviews from the New Statesman and discover the best novels, non-fiction, essays and biographies. If you’re looking for something more specific, explore our sections dedicated to politics books and history books.
In her work, the novelist developed a radical philosophy of relationships. In her life, she put it into practice.
ByThe Brighton bomb killed five people but failed to hit its target, Margaret Thatcher.
ByPolly Barton’s “oral history” of porn shows the myopia of cultural criticism drawn from personal experience. We desperately need a…
ByHow do we reconcile our capacity for good and evil? Humanist thinking does not have all the answers.
ByBut real change happens outside of the parameters of pamphlets and manifestos.
ByA new biography shows how he began life as a revolutionary and ended it hosting the Queen Mother.
ByIn the home of both the Confederacy and the civil rights movement, the past is never dead.
ByFrom sex-positivity to abortion, liberal advances have dehumanised women, argues Mary Harrington – but “nature” is not always as kind as…
BySeth Rogen’s protest against bad reviews misunderstands the role of the critic in the fight against mediocrity.
ByDismissed in later life as a “mystic boob”, the Beat novelist still haunts modern American mythology.
ByAlso featuring Life in the Balance by Jim Down and Liliana’s Invincible Summer by Cristina Rivera Garza.
ByThe year’s publishing highlights, including new novels by Salman Rushdie, Diana Evans and Eleanor Catton.
ByIn 2017, a steamroller crushed the hard drive containing Pratchett’s unpublished material, as per his wishes. But this discovery is…
ByA new history of the 17th century reminds us how bitter ideological conflicts have shaped our democracy.
ByHer new novel raises the question: is the genre code for a thriller that simply isn’t very thrilling?
ByThe editor and translator who brought Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet into English on language and the importance of reading widely.
ByAnatoly Kuznetsov’s classic account of the 1941 massacre of Ukrainians is republished as Kyiv suffers the ravages of war again.
ByThe British science writer argues that patriarchy is newer and more fragile than we think.
ByLeah Hazard’s new book shows how this complex, life-giving muscle has been maligned and misunderstood.
ByThe Canadian psychologist's quest for order is thwarted by the tragicomedy of his own life.
By