Recommended Books

Electricity by Victoria Glendinning, Hutchinson, £14.99. Beautifully detailed parable of female self- determination set in the 1880s. Review by Lucasta Miller, 1 April

The Last of the Duchess by Caroline Blackwood, Macmillan, £16.99. Scurrilous but scintillating account of the Duchess of Windsor's later life. Review by Lucy Hughes- Hallett, 1 April

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, Gollancz, £14.99. Pop music and bitter-sweet romance in the first novel from the author of Fever Pitch. Review by Mick Brown, 1 April

Cyril Connolly: A Nostalgic Life by Clive Fisher, Macmillan, £20. Baggy but engaging first ever biography of the "cocktail critic," wastrel and man of letters. Review by John Walsh, 18 March

An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel, Viking, £15. Funny, tragic and perceptive novel about the painful process of growing up. Exquisitely written. Review by Sue Gaisford, 18 March

The Hutchinson Treasury of Children's Literature edited by Alison Sage, Hutchinson, £19.95. Glorious anthology of the best picture books, tales and poems. Review by Lucasta Miller, 8 April