One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature – a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny.

Discovering Anthony Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters make for an incomparable treat.

“A Dance To The Music of Time” is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart.

Powell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion.

The novels of Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell.

Reading “A Dance to the Music of Time” was such a joyous experience, I remember wishing there'd been more than twelve volumes.

A masterful stylist and a wise, often hilarious observer of human nature and his times, Anthony Powell is an under-appreciated literary gem. The pleasures and dramas of the “Dance” continue to illuminate daily life.

I re-read the “Dance” every five years or so and always find something new – the world has changed but the characters are evergreen. Everybody has a Widmerpool in their life.

He has wit, style, and panache, in a world where those qualities are in permanently short supply

[A] comic masterpiece

Comic, satisfying, thought-provoking, addictive

It's his supreme skill in mastering a lengthily interwoven chronicle, the evolution of such a range and variety of pin-point characters, the wit and the cultural ambition that give the novel a unique place in English Literature.

At Lady Molly's comes fourth in the Dance sequence of 12 novels, but like all the novels it can be read on its own ... If it has ever struck you that life is comic and unexpected and strangely patterned and sad, you should read Powell ... I suspect I am approaching the larger realisation that Powell is the perfect companion for every stage of existence. Few novelists are wiser about people or about life.

'Sam Hawke injects her story with charismatic prose, characters with flair and also has one of the best opening lines that I've ever read in speculative fiction.'

A funny, addictive story that shines with real emotion

A delight . . . Joyful, great fun and with quite a few twists along the way

This book . . . has a touch of real wisdom [and] will satisfy Kinsella diehards as well as new readers.

Fizzingly fresh and can't fail to lift your spirits

What an absolute treat – sheer joy from start to finish.

Fast, furious and fabulous fun

Another heart-warming story from the Queen of feel-good fiction

A joy to read

This fun, super-readable breath of fresh air had us completely hooked

An enjoyable read, funny and moving

A fun, frothy good-hearted read

A tale of long-term love and friendship told with Sophie’s blend of warmth and humour