The worlds Bowen creates are so immediately absorbing, the glimpses she allows us of the eccentricities of other people's relationships so fascinating, that one cannot help wanting more

Those qualities which Elizabeth Bowen's prose exemplifies: a formidable precision of writing, a faithful delineation of mood and place - an aspiration towards the absolute truthfulness of the individual vision-If there is anything to the catchphrase "life felt", it is here - in Elizabeth Bowen's munificence of detail, the fine closeness of the atmosphere which she creates

An affecting tale about decent but flawed people

The Violet Hour succeeds in nearly every measure . . . the story of this family - at once alien and familiar, pitiable and impressive - is rendered with candor and economy

A bittersweet tale of breakup and forgiveness

An unusual retrospective of a family torn apart . . . A bleak and disturbing story but one that offers a glimmer of hope

An absorbing read . . . very good on the unspoken nuances of family life and the irrational irritations we often feel for those we love

Splices humorous set pieces with gently searing revelations . . . a sophisticated saga, offering easy pleasures with no easy truths

A heartwarming and utterly charming debut... This gentle, intelligent Midwestern tale will captivate... An ideal book group selection, it reminds us why we are book lovers and why it's nice to read a few happy endings

Bivald encourages us to look for adventure in both literature and life... Charming

An international bestseller, this quirky, offbeat novel about books, with its wry humour and wonderful characters, is a delicious read

Charmingly original....sweet, quirky

This is a charming novel for book lovers from all walks of life… As you journey through the pages, weaving Little Women, Harry Potter, Jodi Picoult, Jane Austen, Steig Larsson and Proust around the storyline, you’ll find yourself rooting for the beautifully drawn characters, smiling at the wry humour and applauding the ending

Charming and relatable

You’ll love it

A wonderful tale.

Funny, fashionable, fabulous - my beach read pick for the summer!

This Years The Devil Wears Prada

Lethally funny with sass to spare

[a] brilliant and claustrophobic novel

one to watch out for

A very impressive, must read for fans of STATION ELEVEN, so unsettling but subtle too. I loved FIND ME…

a moving, and frequently funny, exploration of character and of trauma

so compelling ... an unforgettable debut

a wonderful read

Like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale or Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, van den Berg’s debut novel presents a frighteningly plausible near-future dystopia grounded in human elements… heartbreakingly real and compellingly wrought

Find Me, her transfixing first novel, is in keeping with her short stories thematically, and yet, in its deep soundings, it’s a commanding departure. . . Van den Berg’s enveloping novel of a plague and a seeker in an endangered world reveals what it feels like to grow up unwanted and unknown in a civilization hell-bent on self-destruction. It is also a beautifully strange, sad, and provocative inquiry into our failure to love, cherish, and protect. But ultimately, Find Me is a delving story of courage, persistence, and hope

In Find Me, van den Berg depicts a life slowly coming into focus—it’s blurry and impressionistic at times, sometimes deliriously scattered. But out of the fog of memory and the haze of drugs emerges a sense of clarity that’s deep and moving and real

From this memorable novel's eerie first paragraph to its enigmatic ending, Laura van den Berg has invented something beautiful indeed

This is one of my favorite novels of 2015, and we’re not even IN 2015 yet . . .The language is beautiful, spare, and carefully crafted, and the characters are fully realized and unforgettable. There is tension and redemption and insight and even humor in these pages, and they make for a really incredible read

Surreal adventures blend with a reflective and sad sensibility in van den Berg’s lyrical debut novel

Both novels offer precision of language and metaphor and scene even as what is being constructed feels messy, chaotic, sad, hopeless... Both orphaned and alone in the world, both so completely real, both telling a story that feels important and exciting to read. I feel lucky to have stumbled upon these books this year, and challenged by them to be better

This debut novel by acclaimed short story writer van den Berg tends to lean much closer to the realms of literary fiction with its complex psychology. . . Van den Berg's writing is curiously beautiful

a strange beauty in this apocalyptic tale