Beautiful... This moving novel pays tribute to a great talent as the curtain comes down, in prose that lingers like the echo of a good bay-side martini

What a lovely, clever book! Beautiful, wistful, just right

Perfectly formed

This elegant novel imagines the final weeks of Noel Coward after he has retired…Jenkins’ Coward is clever and cantankerous to the end

Beautifully observed

Quietly witty and remarkable in portraying the slipping away of mind and body that comes with old age

Firefly shimmers with all the passion and transcience of life

Jenkins shows she has a gift for tender comedy

A moving study

I can think of no better companion than Janette Jenkins' pitch-perfect reimagining of a regret-tinged twilight of Noel Coward's life

A study in melancholy, very well observed

Perfectly-tuned imagining… Jenkins’ telling of it...saves it from any hint of predictability

Jenkins’s prose is thoughtful and sensitive…and her depiction of Coward’s final stage performance, which was a disaster, is particularly insightful

I loved A SONG FOR ISSY BRADLEY: such courage, warmth and intelligence. Carys Bray sweetly and subtly breaks your heart. It's an incredible debut.

Such strong writing, with so much fine imagery . . . very moving. It sings. The characters are completely believable and their grief is conveyed with a truly admirable, unsentimental lightness of touch, which brought laughter between the tears.

In places it is devastating, but it is also unexpectedly funny, even joyful, a hugely impressive novel about what it means to grieve – and to be part of a family.

I was hooked by this beadily observed and moving portrayal of grief, doubt and faith.

Uncontrollable bawling on public transport alert! … Deeply effecting… A seriously impressive debut

Just beautiful.

Engaging . . . You know what Eggers wants to say, he says it quickly, and he says it with a respectably righteous fury. And, ultimately, he says it with a compassion that's always been present in his work . . . Fascinating.

Within 212 pages, Eggers displays a delicate, haunting, sometimes dire picture of the world. It may not be a comfortable read, but it's an interesting take on what we believe to be true and what we hope to be true.

An enjoyable and eccentric journey!

Wonderful

Parks is one of the best living writers of English, and this book is so good you don't want it to end

If, like me, you relish Italy, railways and grumbling, this is the most transporting book

A fun, informative and detailed journey

Unsurprisingly, every bit as good as the original [The Commitments], Doyle is one of those rare writers who never disappoints

Wise, wistful and poignant.

Bittersweet.

Long-awaited sequel.

Doyle’s ear for dialogue is as acute as ever and there’s a lot of amusing asides about contemporary life in this revisiting of much-loved characters.

A book full of Doyle's dark humour mixed with melancholy and wonderful moments of sheer madness.

The feat of The Guts is Doyle’s ability to create in Jimmy a character who hangs together even while so many of his certainties have collapsed. And to get a few good jokes in as well.