Hachette pulls horror novel Shy Girl after suspected AI use

The publisher has cancelled the US release of Shy Girl by Mia Ballard and withdrawn the UK edition after weeks of online speculation about the novel’s origins

Midwinter Break review – sad, spiky and brilliantly acted portrait of rupture and rapture

Polly Findlay’s barnstorming drama about interpersonal and religious tumult in late middle age is a triumph, swerving any sense of sentimentalism

Len Deighton obituary

Writer whose ‘anti-Bond’ hero in his 1962 novel The Ipcress File had a seismic impact on spy fiction

Robert Goodman obituary

Leading child psychiatrist known for developing a simple questionnaire (SDQ) to determine the state of a young person’s mental health

The Infinity Machine by Sebastian Mallaby review – the story of the man who changed the world

A journalist charts the progress of AI pioneer Demis Hassabis from child chess prodigy to Nobel prize winner

‘Orwell went off to fight. I thought I’d have to do the same’: Raoul Peck on his intimate connection with the writer

The Haitian director was given unprecedented access to George Orwell’s archives – and found a fellow crusader for truth. His extraordinary new film highlights the sinister links between Big Brother, Trump and Putin

Jessie Buckley becomes first Irish winner of best actress Oscar for Hamnet

Buckley, who plays Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, was favourite to win after victories in all preceding ceremonies

Paul Thomas Anderson wins first ever Oscar as One Battle After Another takes best adapted screenplay

Director won the Oscar for his critically acclaimed film based loosely on Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland

Readers reply: which are more like life, novels or films?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions considers what’s ‘realistic’ in what we read v what we watch …

Official BookTok chart set to launch in the UK

Offering a monthly Top 20 rundown, the ranking will combine retail sales data with social media engagement on TikTok

Jane Lapotaire obituary

Stage and screen actor hailed for her work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and for her TV role as Marie Curie

Billie Eilish set for big screen acting debut in Sarah Polley’s adaptation of The Bell Jar

Grammy-winning singer is in advanced talks to lead an adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s novel for Oscar-winning writer-director

Self-publish and be scammed: Jon’s tale of heartbreak highlights boom in fraudsters using AI to supercharge book swindles

New wave of publishing fraud mimics lonely hearts swindles of old – swapping promises of true love for the fantasy of literary acclaim. And the wooing process is now fully automated

A Pale View of Hills review – two-stranded adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro novel in the shadow of the A-bomb

Kei Ishikawa’s take on Ishiguro’s first published work is frustrating and bland, undermining its fascinating characters’ emotional truths

UK Society of Authors launches logo to identify books written by humans not AI

Tracy Chevalier announces registration scheme at the London Book Fair as AI works flood market