Books of the year: Classics of a different kind are all worth looking back on

Gripping memoirs, unhappy artists, and a pilgrimage to an island are all featured among the books of the year selected by Alannah Hopkin

Salman Rushdie writes with urgency and honesty, lightened by black humour; Maylis Besserie tells the story of Francis Bacon’s nanny, and Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s book is revived. Pictures: Frank Franklin II/AP; Francesca Mantovani; Eduardo Verdugo/AP

• Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder 
• Salman Rushdie 
• Jonathan Cape, £24.65