Author:Julia Blackburn
In these five stories Julia Blackburn recalls the significant animals in her life and in so doing gives us a sidelong glance at the human members of her family, her painter mother and poet father.
First comes Congo the bush baby, from the jungles of Madagascar via Harrods pet department. He slept in an old cap on the back of the door, and could leap about the room via the picture rails. Then there are tropical fish, tortoises, chickens, guinea pigs, foxes (the last three a combustible combination), pigs, and two very distinctive dogs, Julia's own dog, Jason, a cocker spaniel whose habits of servility and loyalty Julia's father, Thomas, was determined to undo ('He's worse than Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, fawning at my heels!') and Henry, a Parson Jack Russell terrier that Thomas got after his divorce, a dog of great independence, dignity and forbearance, whom his master used to take mountaineering.
This is a delightful book, wry, funny and wise, and unmistakably the work of Julia Blackburn.
'Splendid... clever, cruel and funny... This is a heartwarming book'
—— Evening Standard'A deep, thoughtful novel'
—— The TimesManages to say more about love, hate, happiness, grief, immortality, greed and the disgustingly rich than most contemporary English novels three times the length
—— The TimesExtremely moving... This is a novel that will sweep you off your feet should you be lucky enough to read it
—— BooksBeautiful prose…melded with page-turning suspense… I defy anyone to read it without weeping
—— Minette Walters , The WeekThis is Greene at his raw and powerful best
—— Sunday TimesThe Power Tnd The Glory's nameless whisky priest blends seamlessly with his tropical, crooked, anticlerical Mexico. Roman Catholicism is intrinsic to the character and terrain both; Greene's imaginative immersion in both is triumphant
—— John UpdikeThe year's most impressive debut
—— John Carey , Sunday TimesWarmed by the tender characterisation that has made Jilly Cooper a national treasure.
—— COUNTRYLIFEJust the thing for a wet winter weekend.
—— The IndependentUnrivalled joy
—— TatlerTo read one of Cooper's books is to escape into an alternative universe in which all is right with the world.
—— The GuardianJilly's descriptions of the glorious Cotswold countryside are some of the most lyrical ever written and her comedies of manners rival Nancy Mitford, if not Jane Austen.
—— (Femail) The Daily MailAs plots go you can't get more charming than this.
—— Daily ExpressThis is definitely the most exciting book that landed on my doormat this year. Cooper is a major genius...the narrative zips along, pierced with her characteristically brilliant ear for dialogue and empathy for human relationships of all kinds. You won't be able to put it down.
—— Sara Lawrence , Daily MailA rollicking fantasy.
—— Horse and HoundI loved it.
—— Rosie Boycott, Dec 2010An exciting, revealing and touching story
—— Lesley McDowell , Sunday Herald, Christmas round upThe novel's interest (or lack thereof) lies mainly in its stubborn refusal of anything resembling a narrative payoff...I loved it, right down to the prose, which, unspooling in a vaguely menacing present-continuous, sounds like screenplay instructions to a set designer
—— Anthony Cummins , The TimesA dazzlingly agile novel about the interconnectedness of things
—— MetroEntertaining as well as ambitious
—— The HeraldMcCarthy's descriptions of nature and of the everyday details of the era are vivid, surprising and true. And while the writing is often beautiful and ornate, the story has a bracing, Beckett-like severity
—— Irish Times
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