A poignant, bittersweet love story played out across the east-west divide, it challenges set ideas about loyalty, freedom and ideology

Superb... The divided continent has been at the heart of countless novels over the decades, but few can have been as cleverly crafted or better told than Vesna Goldsworthy's Iron Curtain... Brilliantly written

The pages fly by, and Goldsworthy's careful scrutiny brings warmth and sympathy to her tale of belonging and betrayal. Tense, brooding and often hilarious, Iron Curtain finds bright sparks as well as bleakness in the cold war's dying embers

Vesna Goldsworthy's masterly novel retains the grace and resilience of literary art while wading deep into the most riveting human drama... Goldsworthy is at once the most impartial and the tenderest of observers, a bold dramatist and a subtle humorist

Original and memorable... a profound understanding of the timeless realities of love, betrayal and the desire for revenge

Timely... Daring... A bittersweet tale of loyalty, love and the siren call of freedom

Iron Curtain seized me from its first page and I hardly put it down again until I arrived with reluctance to its stunning conclusion... Moving but also irresistibly enjoyable

An extraordinary evocation of two wildly contrasted worlds... Vesna Goldsworthy writes so well!

This excellent novel is a comedy of manners nevertheless fraught with tension... Goldsworthy captures the human perspective of life in the cold war superbly and sympathetically

A pacy rite-of-passage story that doubles as a portrait of the poisonous legacies of police-state paranoia

Superb

Gripping... With grace and a dose of forgiveness, Goldsworthy performs a heartbreaking but exhilarating evisceration of the myths by which we live now

Goldsworthy's crisply observed and entertaining novel has serious overtones and poses uncomfortable questions, not least about the supposed superiority of the West

A love story that begins in the East and moves to the West. It serves as a timely reminder that the European states once dominated by Soviet ideology were a patchwork of cultures with their own individual histories

[A] well-observed, witty novel

It would be possible to read library stacks' worth of books about what life on the eastern side of the curtain was like, trying to understand the feeling of the late Soviet Union... Or you could read this book

Beautifully crafted... Goldsworthy's evocative descriptions of both worlds - the rigid ice of the east and the damp monotony of the west - lend a filmic quality to this layered novel

Goldsworthy's perceptive and well-crafted story plays like The Americans as revised by Sally Rooney, with acidic observations worthy of the late Kingsley Amis. By flipping the Cold War script, Goldsworthy comes up with a winner.

Witty, poignant and full of surprises - every detail of this cross-cultural story of love and disillusionment rings true.

An unflinching brilliant novel about the mental divide between East and West in Europe in the Cold War era.

Utterly engrossing and full of twists, Black Cake is absolutely worth the calories

A testimony to how migration, memories and the life decisions of our elders can trickle down the generations and shape us. The careful cultural references to the Caribbean diaspora are deliciously nostalgic - I couldn't get enough!

A shining family saga . . . Readers will adore this highly accomplished effort from a talented new writer

A heartfelt story of loss, lies and reconciliation

Black Cake is such an engaging novel. The structure works brilliantly with its dual narrative and short, sharp chapters. As I read, I felt like I could taste the sweet and spice of the black cake that links generations of the same family. Wilkerson's Black Cake is filled with secrets, family ties and hidden desires. It is an extremely satisfying read that stays with you long after the final page. As moreish as its title. If you want to be transported, read this book

A family drama meets murdery mystery

The perfect recipe for an epic family drama . . . Feuds, grief, and a murder make Charmaine Wilkerson's Black Cake unputdownable

One of the most feverishly anticipated debuts of the year

A delicious and gripping tale that sweeps the reader across decades and continents

I really savoured this rich, layered family saga ... Charmaine's writing is subtle and lyrical, pulling you into a powerful story of secrets, roots and identity. The flavour of it will linger long after you've finished

An extraordinary debut

A sweeping story, with Wilkerson masterfully bringing together all the different threads, making social history the backbone of everything

Completely blew me away ... I loved the brilliant writing, the characters and the clever and beautiful way the story melded together ... this is a stunning book

Delving into ideas around identity, familial bonds and lifelong secrets, Black Cake looks to be a wildly moreish page-turner

Touching on racism and acceptance, betrayal and loyalty, this emotional, heartfelt debut explores the meaning of home and the family that define it

A delight to read, each page of Black Cake is more interesting than the last. Wilkerson weaves social history into the backbone of the story, in a way that's nothing short of masterful

This emotional, heartfelt debut explores the meaning of home and the family that define it

A skilful debut about family secrets - and food

A wonderful immersive experience

A beautiful read - a real pageturner

A delight to read, each page of Black Cake is more interesting than the last. Wilkerson weaves social history into the backbone of the story, in a way that's nothing short of masterful.

A resonant story of identity, family and the meaning of home

A delight to read, each page of Black Cake is more interesting than the last. Wilkerson masterfully weaves social history into the backbone of the story

Prepare to be hooked

Impressive

A rich story around immigration and identity ... the novel beautifully captures the struggles of family and identity and the liberation that comes from those struggles

Engrossing . . . Wilkerson's brilliant descriptions are positively sumptuous for the mind's eye

An incredible family saga spanning 60 years, jumping across continents and time, forming a multi-layered book about secrets and inheritance

A delicious and gripping tale that sweeps the reader across decades and continents, turning everything the siblings think they know about themselves and their family on its head'

A funny, big-hearted read

I adored this confident, witty portrait of an unforgettable woman and her time

One of the smartest and funniest novels to appear this year

We guarantee you will love this charming debut

This smart, uproarious, emotional page-turner...has been the year's runaway hit. Rightly so

Irresistible, a gorgeous tribute to resilience and the many types of love that sustain us

Sharp and deliciously readable. Brings bite as well as charm to the tale of a super-rational scientist navigating sexism in early 60s America.

The idiosyncratic wit of this year's blockbuster debut is instantly appealing, but it's also a narrative with real bite. Uplifting and irresistibly zany

I fell for Elizabeth Zott immediately. A wonderfully entertaining and empowering read

A wonderful novel - polished, pacy, funny, witty, warm, life-affirming, and thought-provoking

Witty and sometimes hilarious. The CATCH-22 of early feminism

Enchanting, clever, funny and packed with deeply engaging characters. I still think about it a lot

As with all the best stories, there is a timelessness to this book. One senses it will be read in ten or twenty years' time

Biting and cheering in exactly the right measure

The TV cook bit hooked me right in and it did not disappoint. This book is Charming, witty and clever