Author:George Eliot,Margaret Reynolds
Carpenter Adam Bede is in love with the beautiful Hetty Sorrel, but unknown to him, he has a rival, in the local squire’s son Arthur Donnithorne. Hetty is soon attracted by Arthur’s seductive charm and they begin to meet in secret. The relationship is to have tragic consequences that reach far beyond the couple themselves, touching not just Adam Bede, but many others, not least, pious Methodist Preacher Dinah Morris. A tale of seduction, betrayal, love and deception, the plot of Adam Bede has the quality of an English folk song. Within the setting of Hayslope, a small, rural community, Eliot brilliantly creates a sense of earthy reality, making the landscape itself as vital a presence in the novel as that of her characters themselves.
Visceral power... telling a story set largely over just one terrifying night, it pulverises you with an economy that's rare in fantasy
—— SFXFast paced storytelling... an enjoyable balance
—— SFFworldHugely promising... a pleasing, entertaining romp
—— DeathRayI had a blast reading Night of Knives... I highly recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed the Steven Erikson novels
—— Fantasyhotlist.comEsslemont handles action and brooding atmosphere equally well
—— StarburstP.G. Wodehouse remains the greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness, that no one else has ever captured quite so sharply, or with quite as much wit and affection
—— Julian FellowesA genius ... Elusive, delicate but lasting
—— Alan AyckbournWitty and effortlessly fluid. His books are laugh-out-loud funny
—— Arabella WeirThe Wodehouse wit should be registered at Police HQ as a chemical weapon
—— Kathy LetteThe funniest writer ever to put words to paper
—— Hugh LaurieThe greatest comic writer ever
—— Douglas AdamsP.G. Wodehouse wrote the best English comic novels of the century
—— Sebastian FaulksSublime comic genius
—— Ben EltonA triumph
—— HelloTop marks. Fantastic
—— HeatLovely
—— Daily TelegraphMoving and intelligent
—— IndependentMagnetic, unpretentious and bursting with one-liners
—— CosmopolitanJewell's readability and emotional intelligence make her the cream of pop fiction
—— GlamourFans of chick-lit will understand when I say that this is a book you simply disappear into
—— Sunday Telegraph