Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (Vintage, £6.99 in UK)

An arrogant, 50-something lecturer in Romantic Poetry at the Technical University of Cape Town has a desultory affair with a young student; she brings harassment charges, he resigns and flees to his daughter's isolated up-country smallholding. So far, you might think, so predictable - dull, even. But from this unpromising material J. M. Coeztee fashions a novel of breathtaking subtlety. Themes as diverse as animal welfare, racial equality and sexual politics are woven effortlessly into a story which travels, not just to the heart of human nature, but within touching distance of the human soul. Stylish, sophisticated and terribly, terribly sad, Disgrace may well be one of the best novels you'll ever read.