Strong stuff from a writer who is never afraid to be outspoken

Reading Anne Fine’s work is always a challenge as well as a delight. She’s like a difficult relative who appears at family events and tells everyone a few home truths, yet gets away with it because she has such a wickedly witty turn of phrase

A riveting read

Once again Fine proves why she is such a prolific author with this dangerous and dark new book . . . Evocative, emotional and beautifully imagined

Excellent

Written with clear sight, understanding and elegance . . . Blood Family covers the age-old debate between nature and nurture. It asks if our past can ever be banished. It's about guilt, grief, and anger. But it's also about redemption. It's beautifully, carefully, written. And it feels very, very truthful. I believed every single word - from the degradation of Edward's early life, through the biddable but disassociated child in the early aftermath and the often crass actions of social services, right to the inevitable breakdown in Edward's adolescence. It's the best story in the kitchen sink style I've read in a long time. And I think it'll win prizes

To me Blood Family felt like a totally different Anne Fine from what I've read before. It is well written, and draws you in from the beginning. (This book) is less about the importance of blood families, and more about how things can go right – or wrong – for anyone, at any time. It’s worth remembering. Things can easily go right. Things don’t have to be all disastrous and wrong. No matter what kind of start to life you had, it can become good

Hard-hitting

Her most powerful book yet

I was completely and utterly drawn in by this book and finished it in one sitting . . . A fantastically dark and insightful read which I would highly recommend

Myerson's cleverness lies in her supremely confident ability to play with structure, drip-feeding us snippets of memory yet never losing pace along the way.

One of Myerson's strength's lies in creating atmosphere... Myerson sees the pathos in small details.

What could simply have been a historical crime novel is, in Phillips’s hands, an addictive story with emotional depth.

Well-researched, gripping and a vivid re-creation of the time and place.

Phillips is not the first to write from the point of view of a murder victim…but she may be the first to write about [it] with such fineness and originality that the whole idea becomes overpoweringly attractive.

Quietly engrossing… Mesmerising.

It’s both vividly real and curiously fantastical.

[An] evocative novel.

This brilliant, beautiful novel shows us how the “miraculous” can shine.

The details are beautifully drawn

I was dazzled … Characterisation is as ever top notch … this is a marvel … everyone will appreciate the sheer grace and artistry of it.

Tigerman is a truly engaging and original book; for all the nail-biting tension, humour, superheroic deeds and a brilliant twist there is also a deep and honest heart to it ... This is easily one of the best books I've read this year.

With intelligent, witty writing you cannot help but warm to the unlikely and slightly hapless hero in Lester Ferris.

A virtuoso piece of entertainment which hurtles satisfyingly towards its conclusion after delivering a startling, didn’t-see-that-coming sucker-punch of a twist.

Funny, moving and thought-provoking

The key to Harkaway’s writing is the incredibly textured depth and imaginative characterisation. It is one of those books whose character are so rich that by the climax, you feel like they’ve penetrated your reality and you want to keep them close, even after the book is over.

Original and exciting, full of humanity and comedy, Tigerman by Nick Harkaway is a beautiful piece of work

Original, exciting, full of humanity and comedy, Tigerman by Nick Harkaway is a beautiful piece of work.