fast paced and well executed

Reading Backlash put me pleasantly in mind of reading other, older novels set in the Star Wars universe, with the same sense of adventure and excellent approach to action and intrigue... Recommended for all fans of the genre and overall series.

Hill's writing here is superb, conveying emotion and pain in the sparest of prose...a comforting keenly moving tale of endurance and the eternal springs of friendship and love

It has a power beyond its pages; a haunting resonance between each stark sentence that stayed with me long after I'd turned the final page.The delicate balance between kindness and bitterness, hope and despair, a dying man and a dying town, are almost unbearably poignant. This is a short book that will live long in the memory

Concisely captures primal emotions and offers astonishing transformations... Movingly perceptive

I read this short novel in one sitting; it is an enthralling story, touching and ultimately positive

Susan Hill is the mistress of subtle atmosphere

Moving study of faith and humanity

Beautiful novel

A bittersweet family drama set in an English industrial town

Richly satisfying

The closest thing I can compare it to is The Secret History by Donna Tart.

Rachel Heath is excellent on the atmosphere of post-war Britain and the lure of South Africa.

This author is good at sex, writing well about female sensuality.

The interweaving of the lives of Gay and Laura is skilfully handled, the plot ever-thickening as the two move towards that fatal voyage back to Britain.

Rachel Heath's dark compelling debut novel tells the tale of two very different girls; both are misfits trying to find a story in which they can star.

... examines the extraordinary lengths people will go to when driven by love.

Those who survive do dreadful things. This is the nub of their experiences and also, hints the author of our own.

A highly accomplished debut, this is a chilling portrait of racial tension, social immorality, betrayal and love, and also an atmospheric examination of the end of innocence.

The writing is strong and though the sections featuring Gay's earlier life lose momentum, the story picks up pace when the girls' paths become entwined and the conclusion is compelling and thrillingly macabre.

This fictional account of a true story gives a darkly shocking version of the events surrounding this tragic case.

Brilliantly melds a factual post-war murder into a dark fictional tale