Earthly Possessions, by Anne Tyler (Vintage, £5.99 in UK)

Just when it seemed Anne Tyler's clever, folksy, life-as-lived formula was beginning to wear thin, a timely re-reading of this wonderful novel, first published in 1977, not only reminds one of its virtues, but of also of Tyler's quality as a writer. Charlotte tells her story with intelligence and humour; long weary of her religious weirdo husband, she has decided to leave him - again. Flight becomes complicated, however, when she is kidnapped by an inept and moody bank robber. While captive, she revisits her sad childhood and the trauma of her mother's long-held belief that Charlotte is not her natural daughter. Anyone experiencing doubts about Tyler or about fiction in general should read this humane, realistic narrative.