The Latest Breaking News from Anne Tyler

At 83, The Accidental Tourist author discusses the secret to a good marriage, publishing her 25th book and why she can no longer keep politics out of her novels

The US author’s masterly portrait of a divorced couple brought together by their daughter’s wedding is beautifully observed

Swallowed hearing aids, origami obsessives and a husband who’s a former MI6 agent ... Standard Deviation author Katherine Heiny isn’t short of inspiration, so why did it take 25 years to get her writing career off the ground?

Books in brief

I should not worry so much, because reading slumps come and go. But every time one comes, I worry that it won't ever go. What if I've permanently lost my ability to concentrate? This is certainly possible, in this age of ever-distracting social media.

Pandemics force us to face our mortality, prompting profound questions about life’s meaning. It is not surprising, therefore, that since the days of medieval plague outbreaks, infectious diseases have attracted the imagination of novelists. These stories operate as cautionary tales, holding humanity to account.

Studies show men avoid female authors. Ahead of the Women’s prize for fiction, chair of judges Mary Ann Sieghart finds out why – and we ask male authors to redress the balance

From Franz Kafka to Anne Tyler, literature amplifies the author’s moving insights into living with agoraphobia and the remedies that have helped him

Anne Tyler’s 24th novel is an extraordinarily rich portrait of a family in flux, says Jessie Thompson