American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, Ann Petry's The Street, gay love in 1980s Poland

Available for over a year

American Dirt is already one of the talked about books of the year. Author Jeanine Cummins tells Mariella about her powerful story of one Mexican family's harrowing attempt to enter the US. African American writer Ann Petry was the first black woman to sell over a million books with The Street, yet it is virtually unknown in the UK. Tayari Jones and Luan Goldie discuss why the a searing social thriller set in 1940s Harlem deserves its recent re-issue. For his Editors' Pick, Matt Bates from Muswell Press selects an intimate love story about two men in 1980s Poland. He tells us why Tomasz Jedrowski's Swimming in the Dark is one to look out for in February