Hard to put down and very moving.

[Her] inspiration was the inspiration of Gargantua and of Pickwick; it was the gigantic inspiration of laughter

Don Tillman is the protagonist who keeps on giving. He is a gem, an empirical laser trained on human shortcomings, especially male ones, and even more especially his own. He is also utterly charming in his lack of guile and his belief in improvability . . . blissfully comic

Simsion is very smart at negotiating the line between a satire of the whole modern baby-rearing neurosis and drawing intriguing characters . . . this book is an intelligent piece of fun

Offers plenty more laugh-out-loud moments

Touching and entertaining

Quirky and sweetly funny, you will want to join the Don Tillman fan club all over again

Genuinely heartwarming, truly endearing, plenty of LOLs. You may end up a blubbing wreck

There is much to love in this comedy of errors

If you loved The Rosie Project, I don't see how you could fail to love this funny, poignant sparkler of a novel too

Equally heart-warming and hilarious

The hilarious follow-up to The Rosie Project, one of the best novels I've read in ages. There's no sophomore slump here . . . It's a funny novel that also made me think about relationships. A sweet, entertaining, and thought-provoking book

Prime deck-chair material

Some of the most convincing, witty and assured writing I've been lucky enough to read in ages… Lauren Owen is a ridiculously strong talent and I for one can't wait to see what she does next.

Bury your head in atmospheric literary Victoriana.

Full of suspense.

The book’s energy, its wide reach and rich detail make it a confident example of the “unputdownable” novel.

Atmospheric… Sinister.

What a debut!

Huge, weird, wonderful and quite scary, too.

A bold debut.

Brilliantly nauseating.

A sumptuous, supernatural feast... Leaves you wanting more and more as every page turns.

A new world of adventure, romance and delicious horror.

A calm, elegantly observed love story … followed by something altogether more gothic and full-blooded.

Camp, quirky and fun.

An intriguing blend of historical and supernatural fiction.

Owen has smoothly crafted an excellent Gothic tale out of some supposedly exhausted sources of inspiration… The plot is superbly managed, as are the suspenseful changes of perspective

A ripping yarn written with depth and verve

Clever and stylish… Sophisticated

A staggering achievement of a debut… A fantastically atmospheric, engaging, immersive experience

Energetically mixing history and gothic fantasy, this is a macabre, readable and atmospheric novel

It’s all deliciously creepy, and the richly textured depiction of Victorian London is impressively done. The conclusion has you thirsting for more

Brooding and densely plotted, it is ambitious in its scope, but certainly delivers a sleek, well-crafted thriller, ideal for fans of the genre

Rich in detail, rich in style (and quite scary)

Intelligent, and also enormous fun

She manages the rare task of creating a work whose plot, character and tone are all fully developed and work in service of each other… This is a truly great novel. While it has received glowing reviews it is a great shame that it is not more widely known by the general public. I urge you all to pick it up.

Gobsmacking – and terrifying – debut… The story crackles along and its creepy, menacing characters are ideal for haunting your imagination… Don’t pick it up if you like talking to your family during the holidays, as you’ll ignore them until you’ve finished this.