Anita Desai's lyrical yet pointed prose powerfully draws the portrait of a woman who can never blossom into her own in such an arid social landscape.

'Compulsively sinister'

Berlin's description of Jews in contemporary Western society is brilliant, indeed dazzling

'A very gripping story . . . the reader is drawn in inexorably to discover what horror lies at the heart of it . . . an apocalyptic fable for today'

'Many respectable judges would put Edric in the top ten of British novelists currently at work . . . as a writer, he specialises in the delicate hint and the game not given away'

'It will be surprising if this year sees a more disturbing or haunting novel'

'Stunning . . . evocatively brings to life the stifling humidity and constant rainfall of the Congo'

'A really brilliant first novel, he is obviously a major talent'

'The match of the madder moments of John Irving or Tom Sharpe...this is a promisingly entertaining "lite" read'

'At its best when taking pot-shots at a wide variety of modern ills - fast food, tabloid media, downsizing, soap-opera politics...One of Morgan's nicer inventions is a computer program that boils down complex texts to their essentials. Its treatment of the Old Testament renders it down to: "Because I say so, that's why"'

'Suspenseful, atmospheric and highly intelligent, Jody Shields focuses a brilliant light on the murky world of imperial Vienna'