'Overflowing with page-turning surprises and plot twists...a promising start to a clearly ambitious series'

'Ash does it in style...she has given us a superb interweaving of character and context, seamless enough to carry us past the threshold of disbelief into a world both magical and firmly, unwaveringly human'

Zadie Smith is the best writer of our generation, and Swing Time is her best book to date. As the title promises, the novel swings and pulsates with life, filled with emotion, excited by intellect and haunted by sadness. What a miracle that literature can still do things other forms of art cannot. What a miracle that Zadie Smith is among us, writing.

[Smith] packs more intelligence, humour and sheer energy into any given scene than anyone else of her generation

Zadie Smith's finest novel. Extraordinary, virtuosic... The novel does what only literature can and what only great literature will: forces us to assess the very vocabulary with which we speak of human experience

Endlessly satisfying... [Zadie Smith] has never written better. Pitch-perfect, masterful and sophisticated

Zadie Smith at her finest... [An] unflinching portrait of friendship... [A] triumph

Ingenious, inspired... Zadie Smith's new novel is very good indeed

Shrewd observation and sly satire, profundity and genuine purpose, as well as some of the most heart-stoppingly lyrical writing of her career

A powerful story of lives marred by secrets, unfulfilled potential and the unjustness of the world... interwoven with another beautiful story of the dances people do to rise above it all

Clever, funny, confident and kind. Her gift for language is a pleasure and her character shines through

A sweeping meditation on race and identity... [Smith's] most ambitious work yet

A nuanced, richly rewarding tale

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

With its original plot and charming protagonist, there is much to like about Emily Barr's young-adult debut.

Her [Emily's] page-turning talents are put to good use in Flora's adventure, as the reader accompanies a brave teenager on a journey to discover who she really is.

Barr's light touch captures the innocence and integrity of Flora's voice.

Readers will surely have difficulty forgetting about Flora, her parents and their predicament.

An icily atmospheric story with a captivating hook.

A pacy page-turner that packs a significant emotional punch.

An absorbing, original and definitely memorable book.

A winning mix of a John Green/ Rainbow Rowell-style sharpness and sensitivity, but underlined with a darker edge, belying the author's previous experience as a thriller writer . . . a coming-of-age, finding-yourself-type novel which is, in turn, unsettling and uplifting.

This is yet another masterwork from the wonderful Israeli novelist whose work resonates with emotional intelligence, humanity and truth.

Bold, brash, angry and heartbreakingly tender, with flurries of exasperated humour, here is a novel to take one by surprise… A demanding and gloriously rewarding novel, in it Grossman confronts the business of being alive.

A sensitive and deeply emotional account of a past-prime comedian… This book is an immersive read for both the fans and haters of the stand-up comedy, but tread carefully if you’re not up for an emotional rollercoaster.

The perfect antidote to Trump.

This book is a compelling study of the relationship between artist and spectator, and how suffering feeds into art, and he’s made of it a bravura performance… Extraordinary.

A haunting, intense and Man Booker International prize-winning novel from a great writer.

Incredibly fast paced, and the dialogue comes at you like a machine gun… It is powerful in its own right.

Abrasive, unexpected and eventually heartbreaking, it is a masterclass in characterisation and structure, and it beat off some exceptionally strong competition to win the prize… A Horse Walks into a Bar is quite unlike any other Grossman book except in one important respect: it’s another masterpiece.

Excellent.

Pitch-perfect black comedy