Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a masterpiece.

Lionel Shriver’s new book, A Better Life, should be compulsory reading for all politicians. It’s a masterclass in showing how gullible naïve people, who refuse to recognise that there are some bad people out there, are viewed as turkeys ready for plucking by said villains.

In this fictional world, Gloria agrees to host a migrant as part of New York’s Big Apple, Big Heart programme. Martine flatters Gloria and gradually takes on most of the household chores. Gloria’s son, Nico, is sceptical about Martine’s intentions. You and I, gentle reader, perhaps share Nico’s wariness and can offer guesses about how this might end. Spoiler alert: outside fairy tales, it’s not always “Happily ever after” for everyone mentioned in the tale – just ask the Wicked Queen or the Giant who used the beanstalk.

There are so many dimensions to Shriver’s excellence as a writer. Firstly, plot: any path down to hell is best depicted as a series of steps, rather than one cataclysmic cliff. Should Gloria make a stand when Martine destroys her plants? When Martine’s brother moves in? When…? Secondly, character: the Bonaventura family are beautifully depicted as markers on a scale that stretches from 100% gullible (Gloria) to 100% cynical (Nico), with Gloria’s daughters at different points in between. Martine presents different facets of herself, depending upon the audience. Thirdly, language: Nico wondered when immigrants became migrants, “[…] the dropping of that inbound suffix was meant to cloak these new arrivals in the appealing linguistic fiction that they were ever going to leave.” Fourthly, direct, platitude-scorning, politically-incorrect, truth: “[…] the authorities seemed more concerned with vetting the sponsors than the unknown quantities who’d presumably acquire keys to local homes.”

If you thought Shriver’s last novel, Mania, depicted a plausible future, do read her new book. Mania depicted a dystopian world – does this real world offer a better life? If so, for whom?