As Europe edges towards the close of a year, the patient remains in casualty.

BBC: The euro: Still in casualty

Towards the end, the mortality that had lurked at the edges of the early novels moved to the fore.

ECONOMIST: Obituary: Saul Bellow | The

Of course if the eurozone edges further towards fiscal union - as seems likely - then more power will inevitably shift to Brussels.

BBC: Why Cameron is backing closer European integration

Very much a work of art rather than of history, this beautifully written novel edges towards saying something profound about the relationships between art and life, men and women, the powerful and the disempowered, without ever becoming a simplistic parable.

ECONOMIST: New fiction (1)