“As a writer, Benjamin Markovits has long been interested in what it means to be moderately successful,” said Anthony Cummins in The Observer. His “hugely enjoyable” new novel follows “journeyman” American tennis player Paul Essinger as he prepares for what could be his final US Open. “In town to watch him play” are his parents and three siblings, as well as his “ex-model girlfriend” and their two-year-old son. Although the “looming tournament” creates suspense, this is really a novel to savour for its “granular evocation of family life”.

I haven’t “lingered” over a book with such enjoyment since I learnt to appreciate the late style of Henry James, said Stuart Kelly in The Scotsman. The third-person narration produces an “astonishing” ricochet of perspectives and Markovits probes the inner lives of his characters with considerable subtlety. A few of the tennis details don’t entirely convince, said David Shaftel in the FT: a pro “would never practise on a clay court the day before a hard-court tournament”. When it comes to family dynamics, however, “Markovits hits winner after winner”.