Whether it ever existed or not, the notion of traditional British family life with two parents, two children and roast beef dinners every Sunday bears little resemblance to many families living in Britain today. Single parents, step-siblings and dysfunctional families - as well as more traditional ideas of family life - all feature in this selection.

Augustus, Patrick Baby Father 5: Consenting Adulterers

The X Press, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 1-902934-13-X, pbk

This is the fifth novel in a series following the trials and tribulations of four black British men and how they deal with each other, their families and in particular their children and the mothers of their children. Seen by some to be perpetuating stereotypes of black male behaviour, the series is provocative, engaging and realistic.

Azzopardi, Trezza The Hiding Place

Picador, 2000, £14.99, ISBN 0-330-39075-9, hbk
Picador, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-330-48041-3, pbk

Trezza Azzopardi's first novel was shortlisted for the Booker and longlisted for The Guardian First Book Award. It chronicles the life of a Maltese immigrant family in 1960s Wales and is an evocative tale of culture clash, childhood, violence and poverty.

Barrowcliffe, Mark Infidelity for First Time Fathers

Headline, 2001, £9.99, ISBN 0-7472-7103-8, pbk

Mark Barrowcliffe's second novel explores the emotional journey undertaken by a new father. A light-hearted read containing some good one-liners, Infidelity for First Time Fathers is pithy and to the point, with a strong line-up of eccentric characters.

Chaudhuri, Amit A New World

Picador, 2000, £12.99, ISBN 0-330-35105-2, hbk
Picador, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-330-35106-0, pbk

Detailing the complications and delicacies of modern married lives, this novel tells the story of a divorcee who spends the summer with his estranged son. Removing him from his comfortable life in the American Midwest, he takes the boy to Calcutta, where he will encounter a strange new world and his grandparents.

DeWitt, Helen The Last Samurai

Chatto & Windus, 2000, £16.99, ISBN 0-7011-6956-7, hbk
Vintage, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-09-928462-6, pbk

A strikingly original first novel about a single mother's attempts to ensure that her extraordinarily bright child has enough positive male role models in his life from J. S. Mill to Homer to the characters, actors and director of The Seven Samurai. Told through the voices of both mother and child, this is an intelligent and fresh take on contemporary family life.

Dunn, Suzannah Commencing Our Descent

Flamingo, 2000, £6.99, ISBN 0-00-655088-6, pbk

Sadie Summerfield finally seems to have it all. Perfect domestic arrangements with perfect husband and perfect dog. However, another man drifts into Sadie's life, complicating her neat arrangements and putting everything at risk. This is a novel that unveils the most intimate workings of the human mind, exposes our self-destructive streak and is an astute and affecting novel of love and longing.

Graham, Maggie Sitting Among the Eskimos

Headline, 2000, £9.99, ISBN 0-7472-7181-X, pbk
Review, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-7472-6830-4, pbk

Reminiscent of Educating Rita, Sitting Among the Eskimos tells the tale of Lizzie, a thirty-something Scottish mature student only just managing to balance the demands of family and friends with her university life. This is a sympathetically drawn novel exploring the effects of class and education on women's lives.

Gupta, Sunetra A Sin of Colour

Phoenix Press, 2000, £6.99, ISBN 0-7538-1055-7, pbk

A family saga that moves between the UK and India, this is the story of a family house and the fortunes and misfortunes of those who live in it. Skipping between times, places and generations, the novel is an exploration of family duty, race and love.

Hird, Laura Born Free

Rebel Inc., 2000, £6.99, ISBN 1-84195-048-3, pbk

Hird's first novel is a gritty look at an Edinburgh family. Told in turn by each member of the family, the story is carefully pitched and paints a grim picture of a dysfunctional group of people. In spite of this, there are moments of great humour and some very sympathetically drawn characters.

Hornby, Nick How to Be Good

Viking, 2001, £16.99, ISBN 0-670-88823-0, hbk
Penguin Books, 2002, £6.99, ISBN 0-14-028701-9, pbk

Feted for his funny and perceptive dissections of the mind of the neurotic urban middle-class male, Nick Hornby switches viewpoint for this novel, told in the first person in a woman's voice. The tale of a failing marriage, this is also a compassionate look at social mores and, ultimately, the grander issues of goodness and virtue.

Lanchester, John Mr Phillips

Faber & Faber, 2000, £16.99, ISBN 0-571-20161-X, hbk
Faber & Faber, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-571-20171-7, pbk

Victor Phillips, a family man in his fifties, loses his job but lacks the courage to confront his wife and family with the news, instead spending his days in aimless wanderings. Told through his interior monologue, the novel is a witty commentary on aimlessness in the lives of ordinary people.

Levy, Andrea Fruit of the Lemon

Review, 2000, £6.99, ISBN 0-7472-6114-8, pbk

Fruit of the Lemon centres around Faith Jackson and her search for her identity and roots. Leaving behind a secure London life, family and job, she travels to Jamaica to spend time with her aunt and explore her roots.

Miller, Andrew Oxygen

Sceptre, 2001, £14.99, ISBN 0-340-72825-6, hbk

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Oxygen is a claustrophobic story of a difficult family reunion. Shifting between a quintessentially English idyll, Parisian bars, the Californian porn industry and Hungary, Miller skilfully interweaves the characters' stories past and present to make a satisfying if ambiguous novel.

O'Farrell, John The Best a Man Can Get

Doubleday, 2000, £10.00, ISBN 0-385-60084-4, pbk
Black Swan, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-552-99844-3, pbk

Married with two children, and with another on the way, Michael struggles to find a space for himself in an increasingly cluttered household, and starts to lead a secret double life. In the tradition of Nick Hornby, O'Farrell confronts serious issues facing the modern male, but always with a light touch.

O'Hagan, Andrew Our Fathers

Faber & Faber, 2000, £6.99, ISBN 0-571-20106-7, pbk

This Booker-shortlisted novel explores the ties that bind families together in spite of the differences pushing them apart. Our Fathers is the story of Jamie Bawn, who returns to his home in Ayrshire, drawn back by the impending death of his grandfather. It explores the relationship between son, father and grandfather with sensitivity and insight.

Perera, Shyama Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet

Sceptre, 1999, £10.99, ISBN 0-340-72820-5, pbk
Sceptre, 1999, £6.99, ISBN 0-340-72821-3, pbk

Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet is a story about enduring the collapse of a marriage and coming out the other side smiling. When Nina is left to bring up her two small children alone, she is angry, but gradually comes to realise she doesn't have to be a victim.

Simpson, Helen Hey Yeah Right Get a Life

Jonathan Cape, 2001, £14.99, ISBN 0-224-06082-1, hbk
Vintage, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-09-928422-7, pbk

In Helen Simpson's third collection, many of the short stories complement each other and characters occasionally reappear in each other's tales. The collection dwells on the pace and day-to-day grind of women's lives, especially relating to childcare, work and families.

Smith, Zadie White Teeth

Hamish Hamilton, 2000, £12.99, ISBN 0-241-13997-X, hbk
Penguin Books, 2001, £6.99, ISBN 0-14-027633-5, pbk

Zadie Smith's first novel was met with near-hysterical reviews and praise from literary giants such as Salman Rushdie. In the author's own words, it is 'an attempt at a comic family epic of little England into which an explosion of ethnic colour is injected'. White Teeth is an ambitious novel of gender, race, class and history told with an original wit and inventiveness, tying together the stories of an Indian, a mixed-race and a Jewish family living in north London.

Woodward, Gerard August

Chatto & Windus, 2001, £12.99, ISBN 0-7011-7111-1, hbk

A warm and tender novel of rural versus urban living from this poet turned novelist. One of the strengths of the novel lies in its characterisation and many of its characters, from the genius child Janus to the unstable Colette, will remain with the reader long after the final page has been turned.