Middleton is a born writer; unpretentious, discerning, intelligent, and virtually incapable of writing a duff sentence. He is the Chekhov of suburbia; I recommend him.

As ever with Middleton, the content is quiet and undramatic but the treatment makes it highly readable… there is never a dull moment.

Enlivening and heartening.

A sharp and faithful picture of middle-class provincial life.

A quiet, unusual book, full of sad truths. I loved this epistolary novel of friendship, betrayal and forgiveness.

Harvey’s writing is stunning: an effortless spool that winds back the layers… Brilliant.

Singular and haunting.

A hypnotic read about jealousy, nostalgia and how being wronged by a friend can bruise you as badly as a broken heart.

Indubitably intelligent, Harvey’s prose is also quite simply ravishing.

Harvey’s writing is clever and thoughtful, filled with striking insights and wisdom.

By far the best thing she’s done.

From its opening sentences, this novel of jealousy and friendship holds you in its grip…. Harvey’s prose manages to be both wistful and unpretentious, capturing perfectly the relationship between two women in all its complexity.

Compassionate, matter-of-fact, and mysterious about death and its ultimate transforming.

Harvey handles the most difficult of subjects- ageing and death- with her distinctive brand of mystic pragmatism.

Atmospheric

Dear Thief is one of those quiet and clever books that is about everything and nothing all at once.