One of the most interesting and least patronising accounts of cockney life in the late 19th century

A picture of such squalor and deprivation that it caused an uproar and made Maugham famous

He evolved a quality possessed only by master story-tellers - that of making the reader greedy for more

He shrewdly spun the raw material of human suffering into a brutal tale. Maugham pushed the limits of acceptability and gained a following for it

Distressing but immaculately written

This remarkably original work has gained Janice Galloway an almost immediate reputation as one of Scotland's most interesting serious prose writers

What’s remarkable about this novel is that despite its dark themes, it manages to be uplifting… Joy Stone…is witty, warm and unfailingly honest about her hopes and fears.

A very funny and sad novel

Poignant and original...a wonderfully sensitive portrait of a woman who doesn't give up trying to find the "trick" to making life go on

To condemn it as merely wilful taboo-breaking is to miss the humanity in what is one of the strangest and most moving works of children's literature I have read in years . . . Look beyond the shocking scenes and this is a novel that explores the most profound human emotions with a clear gaze; it made me weep like a child at the end

Enthralling, at times unsettling but always richly imagined

This is a multi-layered novel which requires and deserves attentive reading, regardless of the reader's age; it is unlikely, though, to have much appeal for the censorious adult or for anyone under 16

A complex, challenging novel... there's strong language throughout. At times the tone is chill and distancing but it edges gradually towards a final satisfying sense of empathy and resolution

Lauren Kate really knows how to keep a reader engaged. A breathtaking read. 5/5

As lyrically succulent as Chocolat and Blackberry Wine, this book probes darker corners of loss, enmity and betrayal

Hugely enjoyable

Vastly enjoyable, utterly gripping

A dark, gripping tale of how smell leads to tragedy and murder. Harris's vividly sensual account of a nine-year-olds loves, loyalties and misunderstandings is a powerful and haunting story of childhood betrayal

Five Quarters of the Orange completes a hat-trick of food-titled tales with a riveting story about a young girl brought up in occupied France who's now an old woman harbouring a terrible secret. Harris is light-years ahead of her contemporaries. She teases you with snippets of a bigger story, gently pulling you in with her vivid descriptions of rural France until you can actually smell the oranges. Read it

Beautifully told, it's a haunting and tantalizing tale that stays with you long after turning the last page

The luscious prose, abounding in culinary metaphors and similes, which made Chocolat so readable, is once more in evidence ... a satisfying page-turner

This shape-shifting drama switches easily between Occupied France and the present day. Recipes for luscious meals and homebrewed liqueurs interlace a storyline that spoons suspense and black humour into the blender in equal measure

Harris is an acute observer of the lush French countryside, and her descriptions of it are a delight ... A luscious feast of a book

Joanne Harris's rather brilliant Five Quarters of the Orange is a fascinating page-turner with a compelling climax ... This is an absolutely remarkable book that deserves to be read over and over again

Harris' love affair with food and France continues. Savour it

Harris evocatively balances the young Framboise's perspectives on life against grown-up truths with compelling, zestful flair

The dreamy and almost fair-tale narrative remains undisturbed by the spectre of the Occupation, as Harris avoids moral or historical themes, to ponder on the internal and social turmoil of the protagonists ... Harris seduces her readers with culinary delights, through suggestive textures and smells which indulge the senses

Harris has a gift for injecting magic into the everyday ... She is an old-fashioned writer in the finest sense, believing in a strong narrative, fully rounded characters, a complex plot, even a moral

Gripping ... Harris is on assured form