The Daffodil Days by Helen Bain review

Portraying the breakdown of the couple’s marriage through the eyes of the people around them, this deeply researched and utterly convincing debut is an astonishing achievement

Butter author Asako Yuzuki: ‘I’m very far from the ideal Japanese woman’

Her novel about a female serial killer was a global hit. As Asako Yuzuki’s second book is published in English, she talks about criticism at home – and why she’ll be writing darker stories in the future

How to Put Sex in a Novel

In a new book, intimate fantasies become a crucial vehicle for character development.

What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in February

Francis Spufford, Manish Chauhan and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

Ben Markovits: ‘I used to think any book concerned with people falling in love can’t be very good’

The British-American author on arguing about Jane Austen, the joys of Jerome K Jerome, and revising his opinion of Philip Roth

I’ll Be the Monster by Sean Gilbert review

The dark past of a seemingly perfect couple is gradually revealed in this observant debut of obsession and control