Consolation by James Wilson (Faber and Faber, £7.99)

James Wilson is the author of three previous novels as well as television screenplays, but for Consolation he had taken a different approach.
Taking as a starting point the tragic story of his own grandmother, Mary Wilson, the author has mixed autobiography, family archeology and fiction to produce an intoxicating and subtle novel of lost times and lost children.
We are in Edwardian England, 1910, when we meet Corley Roper, a famous children’s author who is mourning the death of his young daughter.
Roper is racked by grief and estranged from his wife when he meets Mary Wilson, who is mourning the death of her own stillborn son. Unable to continue with his normal work and haunted by her story he sets out to solve the mystery of Mary’s ancestry. Beautifully written and rich in period detail, this novel is a delight.