MacDonald skillfully shifts the story backward and forward in time, giving it a mythic quality that allows dark, half-buried secrets to be gracefully and chillingly revealed

A whopper of a first novel... No fragmentation or contrived narrative devices confuse this hefty and engrossing tale

Stunning....The story is riveting, the characters achingly human, and the writing will take your breath away....[MacDonald] has leapt into the first rank of fiction writers

The most beautiful of his books throws up ideas, allusions, and breathtaking imaginative insights on almost every page. Each time he returns from his travels, Marco Polo is invited by Kublai Khan to describe the cities he has visited-Although he makes Marco Polo summon up many cities for the Khan's imagination to feed on, Calvino is describing only one city in this book. Venice, that decaying heap of incomparable splendour, still stands as substantial evidence of man's ability to create something perfect out of chaos

So important for thinking about the rich layers of life around us, our frailties, how we question and how we find meaning.

Of all the Italian post-war novelists, Italo Calvino is the adventurer. He glitters, impersonal, brilliant and lasting

Every time I read this I discover something new

What elevates The Making of Henry..is the way it talks about love. That, and being funny

This is brilliantly, biliously funny. It is also painfully, movingly sad...Expansive and compassionate... Sharp and hilarious, this latest novel shows Jacobson at his best

A story of modern love that will have readers laughing and sighing with recognition... A wry, insightful, thoroughly enjoyable tale about how men and women choose their demons and their lovers, and the sacrifices they're willing to make for both

Delightful... Her characters are, as always, wonderfully imperfect