The seven best books of 2023 reviewed by our experts

By Leighan M Renaud, Lecturer in Caribbean Literatures and Cultures, Department of English, University of Bristol
Andrew Dix, Senior Lecturer in American Literature and Film, Loughborough University
Dominic Broomfield-McHugh, Professor of Musicology, University of Sheffield
Florian Stadtler, Lecturer in Literature and Migration, University of Bristol
Jane O’Connor, Reader in Childhood Studies, Birmingham City University
Madeleine S. Killacky, PhD Candidate, Medieval Literature, Bangor University
Simon Potter, Professor of Modern History, University of Bristol

We have covered a lot of new releases this year but these seven really impressed our experts. There’s a feminist retelling of a classic, a twist on the murder mystery from the greatest voice in horror and a giggle-inducing ride through the Middle Ages – not mention one of the most hotly anticipated autobiographies of all time.

1. The Fraud by Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith’s latest novel, The Fraud, is her first foray into the world of historical fiction. The result is a stunning, well-studied examination of Victorian colonial England and some of its inhabitants.

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