“The Alexandrian scenes in which the lovers canoodle are sumptuous and headily perfumed…a master class in the ‘feminine’ arts of seduction.”

Wonderful ... heartbreaking, compassionate and funny.

Bray explores the healing power of religion with rare assurance in one of the year's most impressive debuts.

Bray brings humour, empathy and knowledge to what is fundamentally a novel about grief and faith ... Read this if you like: Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You.

I loved this tender, moving, funny and deeply truthful story about a family and a faith tested to breaking-point.

A brilliant debut, compelling and profoundly moving.

A terrific book . . . I loved A SONG FOR ISSY BRADLEY ... it’s moving and comforting in a way that makes sense even to the agnostic.

A powerful, heart-breaking book.

unique . . . beautifully written . . . powerful

Bray slips with thoroughness, imagination and dexterity into each of the characters' consciousness . . . [She] is wincingly honest and emotions are portrayed with an assurance that comes from understanding . . . A Song for Issy Bradley is a skilful and empathetic dramatisation. The fact that it deals with such distressing subject matter without falling prey to sentimentality makes it all the more admirable . . . There are some wonderful one-liners . . .Bray's greatest gift, however, is understatement.

Happy the debut novelist who can write well but who also has access to extraordinary subject matter. This is an impressive debut from a compassionate, wise and original new voice.

Bray performs a small miracle of her own by inhabiting each family member at every stage of the tragedy as their doubts and fears creep in . . . [and] manages it with an astonishing lightness of touch . . . A stunning, unmissable debut.

While this debut is heart-rendingly poignant with a bleak tragedy at its heart, it's also funny and vividly written.

I loved A SONG FOR ISSY BRADLEY: such courage, warmth and intelligence. Carys Bray sweetly and subtly breaks your heart. It's an incredible debut.

Such strong writing, with so much fine imagery . . . very moving. It sings. The characters are completely believable and their grief is conveyed with a truly admirable, unsentimental lightness of touch, which brought laughter between the tears.

In places it is devastating, but it is also unexpectedly funny, even joyful, a hugely impressive novel about what it means to grieve – and to be part of a family.

I was hooked by this beadily observed and moving portrayal of grief, doubt and faith.

Uncontrollable bawling on public transport alert! … Deeply effecting… A seriously impressive debut

Just beautiful.

Engaging . . . You know what Eggers wants to say, he says it quickly, and he says it with a respectably righteous fury. And, ultimately, he says it with a compassion that's always been present in his work . . . Fascinating.

Within 212 pages, Eggers displays a delicate, haunting, sometimes dire picture of the world. It may not be a comfortable read, but it's an interesting take on what we believe to be true and what we hope to be true.

An enjoyable and eccentric journey!

Wonderful

Parks is one of the best living writers of English, and this book is so good you don't want it to end

If, like me, you relish Italy, railways and grumbling, this is the most transporting book

A fun, informative and detailed journey

Unsurprisingly, every bit as good as the original [The Commitments], Doyle is one of those rare writers who never disappoints

Wise, wistful and poignant.

Bittersweet.

Long-awaited sequel.

Doyle’s ear for dialogue is as acute as ever and there’s a lot of amusing asides about contemporary life in this revisiting of much-loved characters.

A book full of Doyle's dark humour mixed with melancholy and wonderful moments of sheer madness.

The feat of The Guts is Doyle’s ability to create in Jimmy a character who hangs together even while so many of his certainties have collapsed. And to get a few good jokes in as well.