One of the greatest writers of our time

A vivid, exhilarating tale with a surprisingly modern philosophy that emphasises the importance of tolerance, feminism and respect for the environment

As pacy and addictive as it is measured. Thick with allegory and adventure...this is a beautifully told epic about the fundamentals of humanity

A beautiful work that not only refuses distinctions between "high art" and traditional storytelling, but supplies that all-too rare human necessity: the sense that life has meaning

The Perfect Nine uses a deceptively simple language that lays bare deep truths.

Ngugi is a giant of African writing

In this sinuous retelling by the great Kenyan writer, the founding myth of the Gikuyu people emerges as an epic poem rivalling the Iliad in body count and surpassing it in whimsy.

Unfolding in wry and lyrical verse, The Perfect Nine tells a Homeric odyssey of the creation of the entire Gikuyu people-a creationist myth, an adventure tale, and a family story, wherein the wives do not simply wait at home.

The Perfect Nine is one of the year's great discoveries.

It is the farthest you could possibly get from the grim, wet reality of a lockdown Christmas in London and is exactly what I want to escape with

[The Perfect Nine] departs from the sprawl of his past novels into an engaging if slight lyrical epic. Combining Homeric verse with oral storytelling tropes-choruses, chants, songs-he retells the origin myth of the Gikuyu, Kenya's largest tribe. . . . Thiong'o's fans will appreciate this.

A visionary writer

Ngugi wa Thiong'o's first venture into epic poetry is a triumph of the form, which resounds with the lyrical heartbeat of the Gikuyu people in Kenya as Ngugi chronicles their mythic history.

A tremendous writer... it's hard to doubt the power of the written word when you hear the story of Ngugi wa Thiong’o

In his crowded career and eventful life, Ngugi has enacted, for all to see, the paradigmatic trials and quandaries of a contemporary African writer, caught in sometimes implacable political, social, racial and linguistic currents

Ngugi masterfully sings us through an origin story written in verse. This book is a magisterial and poetic tale about women's place in a society of Gods. It is also about disability and how expectations shape and determine characters' spiritual anchoring.

[The Perfect Nine's] sophistication comes from the use of the narrative voice, which positions the reader as part of a common humanity

The Perfect Nine is one of the year's great discoveries

A rather beautiful, if unusual, read

The inside scoop on Harper Lee’s long, post-Mockingbird silence. After working with Truman Capote on his true-crime book In Cold Blood, Lee attempted something similar, taking a murderous preacher, the Rev Willie Maxwell, as her subject. Despite years of research, Lee never produced a book – but Cep’s beautifully written offering goes a long way to making up for that. Utterly gripping, this is the ideal Christmas treat for anyone who loves Harper Lee.

An ingeniously structured, beautifully written double mystery

Fascinating true story

The astonishing account of murders in Alabama and Harper Lee's attempt to unravel the story.

Fascinating ... Riveting.

A glorious book of heart-warming philosophy and heart-rending sadness

An excellent novel...thrilling reading...incredibly entertaining

Surely one of the most versatile novelists writing today

Vivid, original and always engaging

Rose Tremain writes comedy that can break your heart

Steps inside the mind of Sir Robert Merivel

For a second time this is one to cherish

A Pepysian romp of the first order

Continues in the same superior vein as Restoration… The fusion of such an engrossing character, and the minutiae of another time, remains a marvel

In this evocative and beautifully drawn novel of family and loyalty in the face of an uncertain future Tremain continues the story of a wonderfully unique character

Hugely enjoyable

Merivel’s hapless charm remains intact in this tour de force of literary technique

A sequel that looks back to the earlier novel without ever quite recapturing its spirit is the perfect form in which to evoke that feeling of having to carry on, and of trying to make yourself have fun even with it eventually begins to hurt

A marvelllously rollicking good read, and it is such a pleasure to meet Robert Merivel again. Rose Tremain brings the character to life in a way that makes you want to find out even more about the period. Enormously skilled and deft