I am reading The Old Curiosity Shop by Dickens for the first time. His characters are marvellous, his insights wonderful and I'm astonished that I managed to miss this one before. Quilp and his wife and Kit confirm my view that Dickens is the father of magic realism. You don't expect reality but you get something bigger and better

One of Charles Dickens's darkest, most melodramatic novels

It could be argued that The Old Curiosity Shop changed the expression of grief in the English-speaking world

I have read so much Dickens that I can almost predict where a story is leading from the beginning. But The Old Curiosity Shop is more mysterious. This Christmas I read it again didn't get out of bed for two days as I followed the adventures of Little Nell and the evil dwarf Quilp

I just love the Marchioness and just loathe, with delicious pantomime venom, Daniel Quilp

I bought it, read and loved it.

An original novel which combines elements of gothic romance with the current trend for supernatural fiction.

This is a fabulous book. It's intriguing, well-written and a real page turner.

An enjoyable, solid, gothic fantasy offering

Hugely enjoyable and highly recommended.

a literal fairytale romance which keeps you gripped until the very end.

A lovely book, beautiful to look at and a captivating story. Goodman has a superb way of drawing you into her world, the magic within is subtle, enchanting enough to weave a spell over the reader without causing you to suspend belief.

Unsworth is a spare and elegant writer, and his lean prose keeps perfect pace with the mounting tension as international players fight over the land. An unexpected page-turner that foreshadows the current turbulence in the Middle East.

Land of Marvels is a most intriguing fiction, as multi-layered and full of unexpected discoveries as the terrain so rich in narrative into which Somerville is so desperately burrowing. Unsworth's knowledge of his novel's historical and archaeological background is gracefully deployed, as are the parallels with the later conflict, which are never allowed to overshadow the vivid characterisation and elegant, intricate plotting by means of which the author pursues his real theme: the nature of stories that human beings tell themselves about the past, the present, and the future.

As you would expect from Barry Unsworth, the place and period are beautifully evoked and the plot gathers pace to a brilliant climax.

Land of Marvels is a novel about deception, greed and the restrictions of decorum, a time capsule reopened and a well-paced saga of broken family ties. It also offers an evocative glimpse at the lands that have since been reborn as Iraq.

Anyone familiar with Barry Unsworth's work will know the relish he takes in intrigue and subterfuge. Here, the entire cast is engaged in a kind of gavotte of dissembling, eagerly trying to outwit each other. This, as one might expect, is beautifully orchestrated, with everyone dancing to what they falsely believe to be their own tunes. And while the contemporary resonances of his story are plainly there - Mesopotamia, or modern-day Iraq, is being picked over by various self-interested outsiders keen to plunder its resources - they are never laboured.

He has a marvellously sinuous way of moving in and out of his characters points of view and styles of speech... neck-deep in spies, double- and triple-crosses, forbidden love and pistol-shots... Give yourself up and there's a clanking good read to be enjoyed.

A heady mix of history, politics and espionage.

Barry Unsworth - winner of the Booker Prize once, shortlisted twice - has a lot to live up to. In Land of Marvels he does so magnificently ... Lofty dreams and smash-and-grab capitalism are deftly woven together in precise and elegant prose.

Engaging and informative, with snappy dialogue and a fabulous, if slightly abrupt, ending.

Brilliant exploration of the tensions on an archaeological dig as the first world war looms.

Land of Marvels offers a fluent plot peopled by sharp, affecting characters and graced with the author's usual erudite wit and understanding humour

[a] cleverly plotted and elegantly written novel...Unsworth has evidently done a great deal of research, but this is woven seamlessly into the fabric of the novel so that the reader is caught up in the excitement of Somerville's discoveries.