The Room of Lost Things by Stella Duffy
Virago, £14.99

Robert Sutton, a dry-cleaner, has decided to retire from his shop in Loughborough Junction, South London. He has chosen his successor, Akeel, with care, so that he can hand on the secrets of his trade. A dry-cleaner has access to the pockets of his customers, and Robert knows all kinds of secrets. He understands about secrets because he is keeping a terrible one of his own - this solitary man once had a family, and there can be no fresh start until he has addressed his past. Longlisted for the Orange Prize, this is a vivid picture of a scruffy, multiracial London village.

Far North and Other Dark Tales by Sara Maitland
Maia Press, £8.99

Sara Maitland is fascinated by the power of myth and legend; the essential, universal tales. “Far north,” begins the title story of this strange collection, “inside the ice circle, in the land of the long night, lived two women.” The women, mother and daughter, are never given names. One day, a stranger appears - a man, whose muscles “stand out like the sinews of the moose”, who can only threaten their peaceful existence. Elsewhere, Maitland produces accomplished reworkings of the Bible and the Brothers Grimm, including Slicing the Gingerbread, a sharp modern version of Hansel and Gretel.

Benny & Shrimp by Katerina Mazetti, translated by Sarah Death
Short Books, £12.99

This is a charming and funny Swedish love story, about two lonely people on the brink of middle age. In alternate chapters, they describe their halting and sometimes hilarious progress. At first, when he sees her in the village cemetery, the bachelor dairy farmer dismisses her as “the beige women”. Their obvious need for each other drives them in each other's arms, and their differences threaten to drive them apart - but this Beatrice and Benedick belong together, and their unconventional relationship is entirely believable.

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