A beautiful ode to dignity, memory and survival

The kind of book that deserves to be devoured. Deliciously brutal, hypnotic, and brimming with ravenous malice, Alexis Henderson has crafted a bloody, sapphic fever dream of a novel and I can't wait to read it again.

Has something of the grotesque novelty of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast, tinged red by a Clive Barker-esque blending of blood and sex . . . a lurid, luscious debauch of a book.

A gory gem of a story that sinks in its teeth and won't let up, House of Hunger proves that Alexis Henderson is one of the best Gothic writers out there.

A dark, blood-filled fantasy that's dripping in gothic vibes . . . dread and desire simmer from the pages of this unsettling and lushly written horror. It'll have you simulatenously wanting to look away and keep reading.

Delicious . . . House of Hunger's Dickensian plot and gorgeous Victorian steampunk setting make it a pleasure to read . . . like a modern-day Anne Rice, Henderson has a gift for creating a world engorged with desire and death.

A beguiling Gothic feast. Every lush, gorgeous page oozes atmosphere and delicious dread. Alexis Henderson is an exhilarating talent, creating rich new worlds that terrify and enchant. House of Hunger is an exceptional work of dark fantasy. Magnificent.

Gritty, Sapphic, Gothic . . . rich with suspense and intrigue, the novel is equal measures addicitve and haunting.

House of Hunger is gorgeous and lushly dark, a nightmare vision that will pull you into its terrifying grip. Alexis Henderson is a master at creating enthralling fear.

A supremely Gothic page-turner.

With decadent prose as bewitching and as dangerously sharp as a rare gemstone that could slice you open at any moment, Alexis Henderson's House of Hunger is a Gothic masterpiece that demands to linger like the coppery scent of blood in the air long after the final page is turned.

Readers will devour every page of House of Hunger. Alexis Henderson delivers a chilling, atmospheric tale shrouded in mystery, indulgence, deceit, and dangerous consequences.

With sumptuous prose and decadent, Gothic atmosphere, Alexis Henderson spins a lush tale of depravity, sensuality, and horror that kept me on my toes until the bitter end.

Bloody and atmospheric with a seething undercurrent of dread, House of Hunger will lull you into a false sense of security just before baring its teeth. Fans of gothic horror will not want to miss this novel.

Breathlessly paced and dripping with gothic decadence, Henderson's second novel . . . cements her status as one of horror's best new voices . . . a fascinating new spin on vampires that combines gory but gorgeous imagery and searing social commentary.

Sexy and queer and monstrous and very bloody . . . House of Hunger is a killer sophomore novel from Alexis Henderson. She has more than earned her place on my list of auto-read authors. Fans of gothic horror, sexy blood drinkers, and sapphic fantasy should move this to the top of their TBR.

Henderson knows exactly what makes the gothic novel work, combining lush and lurid prose with beautiful scenery . . . House of Hunger is a novel as rich and dark as any blood shed by its heroines.

Darkly gripping.

Rachel Joyce writes with incredible depth, beauty and heart. Reading her prose is like listening to great music - sometimes soft and sweet, sometimes heart-rending, always beguiling. This is an emotional story about loss, resilience and reconciliation. Maureen Fry is a prickly kind of star... but wow, how she shines!

Beautifully written and endlessly touching, Rachel Joyce once again captures what it means to be human in the final book of her wonderful trilogy.

Maureen is the sort of person we pass in the street every day, every hour, and probably give little thought to. She is difficult perhaps, a little brittle, unable to engage successfully with the world, and maybe hard to warm to - an embattled figure often lost against the vast opera of life. But Rachel allows us to see into her complex universe, feel first-hand her fears, the profound longing, the grim phantoms of the past, the ordered rebelliousness, and strange, dark sense of humour - and of shame. This story also happens to tie three life-affirming, vital and unpredictable novels together into a perfect, never-ending dance..

This is a deceptively simple story of love, forgiveness, fulfilment and hope. I can't think of any other novelist quite as tender and compassionate as Rachel Joyce, who understands that miracle of transformation when human fragility becomes strength of spirit.

This is a fitting and deeply moving end to the trilogy of Harold Fry. A portrait of a woman adrift in grief, it is as fragile as a songbird and just as beautiful.

Profoundly moving and deeply human, this story of self-discovery and forgiveness is essential reading. I loved every word.

I adored Harold & Queenie, but who knew Maureen waited in the wings to steal my heart? A testament to just how exquisitely Rachel Joyce understands people, and written with kindness and such perception. I can't recommend it enough.

I was enthralled from the first page of this short, powerful book. Maureen is a wonderful, frustrating character--so rigid, and so frightened of what she might learn about herself and her own past. We all have some Maureen inside us, and so the journey we take with her across England and into her own personal tumult is a satisfying, visceral one.

Astonishingly powerful... Truly stunning

Book of the Month

Atkinson's latest fictional treat is packed with intrigue... one can never underestimate the pleasurable power of [her] ability to stud her narrative with humor

An absorbing tale

The latest novel from an author who never lets you down

This terrific novel is alternately hilarious and sad

It may change your life

Pearson is a very witty and moving writer. Her prose is spare and skilful...waspish truisms and spot-on social observations

Intelligent, witty and of-the-moment, it mixes sassy, brittle perceptions with barefaced sentimentality

Brilliantly captures and defines the mood of the moment...sparkling wit and razor sharp insights

Sharply observed and frequently funny

The success of the story - and a success it is - comes not from the ingenious scientific speculations, nor the shrewd literary connections (on the "emotional telepathy" of a work of art, or Daniel Keyes's Flowers for Algernon), but the human story between father and son, as Theo finds out 'how my brain learns to resemble what it loves

Richard Powers's Booker Prize-shortlisted novel is both brutal and heartwarming, intimate and profound. A masterfully curated story of love, grief and loneliness, quietly building to an inevitable and devastating close

He composes some of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read. I'm in awe of his talent

In Bewilderment, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist has crafted a story of great beauty and power