From Paul Strathern to Kerry Hudson: new books reviewed in short

Helen Oyeyemi's latest novel, Parasol Against the Axe , pokes holes in preconceptions of narrative.

Kerry Hudson's memoir, Newborn , explores the travails of having a baby in a country you barely know with breeziness and humour.

Chris Bryant's A True Story of Prejudice and Murder by James and John Pippus .

James Pratt and John Smith were the last men in England to be hanged for being gay.

James and John is too fastidious laden with citations and often superfluous detail to be a pacy read.

But with its courtroom denouement and Dickensian setting, TV commissioners will take note.