The 14 best books to look forward to this autumn

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Autumn is bringing a bumper crop of literary heavyweights. Margaret Atwood is turning her gaze inward with a memoir that promises the same sharp intelligence and sly humour that shaped her fiction, and Zadie Smith returns with a new essay collection.

Ian McEwan is back with a new novel that blends the intimate and the political in his unmistakable style, while Paul McCartney is swapping melody for memory with a book about the music, madness and magic of Wings. And Oyinkan Braithwaite, whose debut My Sister, The Serial Killer, skewered loyalty and murder with wicked glee, is back with another darkly inventive tale. With apologies to your ever increasing to-read-list, here is what else to look forward to this autumn…

Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood

In this memoir that doubles as a literary time capsule, Atwood weaves her forest-filled childhood, lifelong partnership with the late Graeme Gibson, and formative creative years into a self-portrait of the artist as both woman and myth. Out 4 November.

Chatto & Windus, ÂŁ30

The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie

In his first piece of fiction since the knife attack, Rushdie confronts mortality, memory, and meaning. Though they span continents and lifetimes, together these five short stories ask what it takes to say goodbye – to life, to place, and to who we once were. Out 4 November.

Jonathan Cape, ÂŁ18.99

All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert

The author of Eat, Pray, Love charts a love story turned reckoning in this raw, revelatory memoir. Addiction, obsession, and heartbreak collide in a relationship that forced her to confront – and finally release – the patterns that nearly destroyed her. Out 9 September.

Bloomsbury, ÂŁ22

Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown

In Brown’s first novel in eight years, Robert Langdon returns for a high-stakes race through Prague’s occult underworld. History, mystery, and mythology collide as he searches for a missing woman and the key to a conspiracy that could alter the fate of humanity. Out 9 September.

Bantam, ÂŁ25

Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith

One of the foremost writers of our time turns her acute essayist’s lens to art, politics, and pop culture. With range and intelligence, she moves from Stormzy to Didion, Glastonbury to Kilburn, and helps makes sense of our fractured, fascinating times. Out 30 October.

Hamish Hamilton, ÂŁ20

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

Wedding bells ring, but murder still calls. The Thursday Murder Club reunites for a twisty new case involving a code no one can crack – except, perhaps, a group of old friends who never quite gave up the chase. The latest in Osman’s series has million copy bestseller written all over it. Out 25 September.

Viking, ÂŁ22

Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite

A generational curse stalks a young woman’s love life in this taut, wonderfully twisted tale from the author of the hit novel My Sister, The Serial Killer. With gothic suspense and acid-drop humour, Braithwaite explores what we inherit – and whether love can outwit fate. Out 25 September.

Atlantic Books, ÂŁ18.99

The Rose Field by Philip Pullman

Thirty years ago, Pullman introduced the world to Lyra Belacqua in the astonishing book that was The Northern Lights. Now he brings us the epic conclusion to The Book of Dust trilogy – and an end to the cultural phenomenon that first started with His Dark Materials – with a story that reminds us just why some stories endure. Out 23 October.

Penguin, ÂŁ25

Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy

In the first personal non-fiction from the Booker-prize winning author of The God of Small Things, is at once a memoir and a tribute to her singular, defiant mother. Through grief and love, rebellion and refuge, she traces the roots of her voice as a writer – and the woman who shaped it. Out 4 September.

Hamish Hamilton, ÂŁ20

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

In a sea-submerged future, a lost 21st century poem triggers a search for truth, memory, and lost love. McEwan blends climate fiction, literary mystery, romance and human drama into a haunting meditation on knowledge and erasure. Out 18 September.

Jonathan Cape, ÂŁ22

Truly by Lionel Richie

It was about time this 76-year-old, much-loved pop and R&B artist wrote an autobiography. From Tuskegee to Motown, heartbreak to “We Are the World”, this memoir is a backstage pass to an extraordinary career – and the persistence it took to live it. Out 30 September.

William Collins, ÂŁ25

The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee

Previously unseen stories and essays reveal Harper Lee’s sharp wit, southern roots, and evolving voice. From small-town Alabama to big-city life, this posthumous collection offers a new window into one of America’s literary icons. Out 21 October.

Hutchinson Heinemann, ÂŁ22

When Gavin Met Stacey & Everything in Between by Ruth Jones and James Corden

A behind-the-scenes look at Gavin & Stacey told with affection, mischief, and hard-won perspective, Jones and Corden revisit their comedy breakthrough – and the unlikely friendship behind it. Out 9 October.

Bantam, ÂŁ25

Wings by Paul McCartney

In this oral history of his post-Beatles band, McCartney reflects on reinvention, risk, and runaway tours. Wings captures the scrappy spirit, chaos, and creativity that followed the world’s biggest break-up – and the music that came next. Out 4 November

Allen Lane, ÂŁ35