Seven years ago, American author Anthony Doerr published All The Light We Cannot See, a moving story of a blind French girl and a German orphan trying to navigate the perils of World War Two – it went on to sell 9.3 million copies worldwide and won him the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Now, Doerr is back with Cloud Cuckoo Land (4th Estate), an epic tale that addresses everything from climate change and neurodiversity to crushing loneliness, homosexuality and ancient Greek tales. But the common thread that runs throughout is the enduring importance of books and storytelling for those we leave behind.

“If you’re hoping for All The Light We Cannot See 2.0, ditch your expectations now,” says Stylist Loves’ editor Gemma Crisp. “Not only is Cloud Cuckoo Land a whopping 622 pages, Doerr’s signature short chapters hop between 1453 Constantinople, 20th and 21st century America and more than 100 years into the future. You’ll meet a cast of characters including the fiesty orphaned seamstress Anna who learns how to read against all odds, disfigured Omeir who finds solace in raising livestock before being forcibly recruited to join an army preparing for a siege, autistic Seymour who struggles to find his place in modern day Idaho, Korean War veteran Zeno who has never felt like he belonged, and Konstance who’s on a spaceship voyage from a ruined Earth to find a new planet where humankind can thrive. And just to make things even more interesting, there’s a translation of a long-lost book written by an ancient Greek novelist that binds all of these seemingly disparate stories together. It’s hard to do it justice without writing a thesis but safe to say Cloud Cuckoo Land is a fascinatingly ambitious tale that’s worth the seven year wait.” £20, Bookshop.org