The Hungry Tide
by Amitav Ghosh
(HarperCollins £17.99): vivid, deeply moving novel, in part a series of overlapping sagas set in the Ganges delta.
Wives and Daughters: Women and Children in the Georgian Country House
by Joanna Martin
(Hambledon and London £19.95): entrancing study of a spirited family of women and the splendid houses in which they lived.