Author:Deborah Moggach
‘Final Demand is strong on narrative, dashing the reader along, but, though fast-paced and transparently written, nevertheless creates people of memorable complexity’ Independent
Natalie is a girl who should be going somewhere. Beautiful, bright and ambitious, she’s stuck in a dead-end job in the accounts department of Nu-Line Telecommunications, living her life through wild weekends and yearning for something more.
When she sees a chance to change her life, she takes it. After all, it’s only a minor crime. Nobody’s going to get hurt. But other people do get hurt, because Natalie’s actions do have consequences – tragic consequences. Poignant and beautifully written, Final Demand is a cautionary tale about the battle between greed and love, about human hopes and our own frailty in the face of temptation.
‘A chilling, impeccably plotted novel’ Cosmopolitan
‘Powerful…vividly evoked’ Sunday Times
An astonishing story of broken dreams, greed and human frailty.A tale of extraordinary power. Quite simply outstanding
—— Daily MailHugely entertaining.immensely thought-provoking
—— Daily ExpressPowerful.vividly evoked
—— Sunday TimesDeborah Moggach can fit a complex idea onto a postage stamp... ordinary human crises are described tersely, compassionately, and with a wit as dry as the Sahara
—— IndependentMoggach's delight in spinning her story, and in the minor characters she invents, is infectious
—— Mail on SundayRicher and more alive than the best work almost any other writer is producing
—— Cressida Connolly , Daily TelegraphThis is what Tyler does better than almost any contemporary writer. She peers at the forgotten areas of the everyday, the bits that are hard to pinpoint... She looks at people -- at life -- from the inside out.
—— Lucy Atkins , Sunday TimesBrilliantly observed and mercifully unsentimental
—— The TimesYet again she has articulated the supreme difficulties of human communication in a calmly insightful exploration of love and truth, grief and reality.
—— Eileen Battersby , Irish TimesHer stories are quite unlike anyone else's
—— Cressida Connolly , Daily TelegraphTyler writes with a generosity of spirit and an emotional truthfulness that makes you forget the bare mechanics of plot
—— David Robinson , WeekA brilliantly observed and mercifully unsentimental examination of the emotional arc of grief
—— The Times , Sarah VineA perfectly judged and brilliantly executed novel of loss and recovery
—— Fanny Blake , Woman & HomeAll Hail Anne Tyler
—— Sunday TimesA carefully observed study of grief and its trajectory
—— Pamela Norris , Literary ReviewTyler uses simple, elegant prose to manifest her particular brands of realism and humour
—— Freya McClelland , IndependentSuch clear-eyed acceptance of life's fragility, and such a delicate way with it: this attitude lies behind all of Tyler's work
—— Edmund Gordon , TLSTyler strips away layers of everyday life to reveal the abyss of pain underneath but does so with such skill and sparkling wit it makes this a real celebration of life.
—— Vanessa Berridge , Daily ExpressA simple, subtle and really honest account of how one man, Aaron, deals with the darkly comic death of his dumpy, clever and brilliant wife Dorothy... I finished it in one sitting.
—— Alix Walker , StylistA perfectly judged and brilliantly executed novel of loss and recovery.
—— Woman & HomeTyler distilled.
—— LadyA funny, gently moving and insightful book.
—— Liam Heylin , Irish ExaminerWhat could be mawkish and cloying is gentle and touching, not least because she is a very funny writer.
—— Michael Prodger , Financial TimesIn Tyler’s small slices of life there is poetry and wisdom...artistically subtle and emotionally satisfying
—— Elaine Showalter , GuardianThe ending teeters on the brink of sentimentality but such is her psychological insight, the truth of her writing, that if she says unlikely happy endings are possible, I believe her.
—— Jake Kerridge , Sunday ExpressThis meticulous, gently humorous novel is concerned with the effects of grief, the stop-start nature of moving on and the role of friendships, however imperfect, in facing catastrophe. [Tyler] remains as gimlet-eyed as ever in portraying ordinary lives that have become unmoored.
—— MetroThis novel's great achievement is to capture the tensions and subtleties of a married life cut short… I read [it] virtually in one sitting, but that's a fairly common experience with Anne Tyler books… I didn't want it to end. Which is also a fairly common Tyler thing.
—— Viv Groskop , Independent on SundayThe Beginner’s Goodbye is a very funny book … every incident is at once recognizably true to life and yet somehow utterly off-kilter.
—— Edmund Gordon , Times Literary SupplementBrims with wry perceptiveness and rueful humour
—— Peter Kemp , Sunday Times (Books of the Year)Tyler's playful humour imbues this unsentimental portrait of a mismatched marriage
—— Emma Hagestadt , IndependentA cleverly observed tale of an imperfect relationship and grief
—— Big Issue in the NorthA bittersweet, utterly beguiling story of love and loss from a brilliant writer
—— John Koski , Mail on SundayBoth compelling and deeply touching, once you start reading you won’t want The Beginner’s Goodbye to end
—— Hannah Britt , Daily ExpressIt begins with one of those sentences that impels you to read on…Tyler’s haunting tale of love and loss is intelligent, unsentimental and often wryly funny
—— The LadyA lovely, stylish way to write a novel about marriage
—— William Leith , Evening StandardA beautifully poignant portrait of marriage, loss and grief
—— Good HousekeepingExhibit[s] all the delicious readability that admirers of Tyler expect
—— Brandon Robshaw , Independent on SundayBoth compelling and deeply touching, once you start reading you won't want The Beginner's Goodbye to end
—— Hannah Britt , Scottish Daily ExpressAn emotionally satisfying book with wise and moving moments
—— Good HousekeepingCline [crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box ... Cline strikes the nerves of nerd culture as expertly as Andy played that skeleton organ in The Goonies.
—— Entertainment Weekly