There are few things more quintessentially ‘English summer’ than Pimms, strawberries and cream, rain and … Wimbledon. Tennis is a curious game. Oddly civilised on the surface, long beloved of the chattering classes, and in its English incarnation, white and polite. But underneath the handshaking, smiling veneer, tennis rivalries can be some of the fiercest in the sporting world.

A lot like a marriage. In Lionel Shriver’s tennis-themed novel, a husband and wife take their problems onto the court … and back into the bedroom. Using the sport as a perfect metaphor for the tensions between two opposing forces, it is one of the best examples of Shriver’s ability to cast a cold eye over human relationships, expose the flaws that we’d prefer not to admit to ourselves, never mind our partners, and ultimately, create as much tension as a packed final on centre court.

Out now in paperback and ebook.