Author:John Milton,Adrian Schiller,John Leonard

Brought to you by Penguin.
This Penguin Classic is performed by Adrian Schiller.
In Paradise Lost Milton produced poem of epic scale, conjuring up a vast, awe-inspiring cosmos and ranging across huge tracts of space and time. And yet, in putting a charismatic Satan and naked Adam and Eve at the centre of this story, he also created an intensely human tragedy on the Fall of Man. Written when Milton was in his fifties - blind, bitterly disappointed by the Restoration and briefly in danger of execution - Paradise Lost's apparent ambivalence towards authority has led to intense debate about whether it manages to 'justify the ways of God to men', or exposes the cruelty of Christianity.
Introduction © 2003 John Leonard (P) 2019 Penguin Audio
Lee explores with exuberant humourthe irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s.
—— The WeekSomeone rare has written this very fine novel, a writer with the liveliest sense of life and the warmest, most authentic humour. A touching book; and so funny, so likeable.
—— Truman CapoteThere is humour as well as tragedy in this book, besides its faint note of hope for human nature; and it is delightfully written
—— Sunday TimesNo one ever forgets this book
—— IndependentOne of the best novels I remember ... uniquely unsentimental
—— GuardianHer book is lifted … into the rare company of those that linger in the memory
—— BookmanA rich and remarkable novel
—— Daily ExpressThere's a beautiful simplicity to it that means anyone can read it... Transcends any particular time or generation
—— Tim Burgess , The TimesA smart, zeitgeisty, genuinely affecting coming-of-age-tale... Lara Williams is very much a talent in her own right
—— Daily MailFor reading while eating in the bath and licking your lips... There's no other book to read this month
—— Lit HubTotally invigorating... With elements of Stephanie Danler's Sweetbitter, Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Phoebe Waller Bridge's Fleabag, Supper Club is a succulent, unapologetic celebration of female friendship, female rage, and female appetite
—— Pure Wow[A] delicious first novel... Williams writes with warmth, wit, and wisdom, serving up distinctive characters and a delectably unusual story. Supper Club will satisfy your craving for terrific writing and leave you hungry for more from this talented writer
—— Kirkus (Starred Review)A darkly funny coming-of-age story like no other... Supper Club is the ravenous read we all need
—— Read It ForwardA bacchanalian debut novel (that) will leaving you panting and ravenous
—— New York MagazineExtremely well done... Williams's enthusiasm for good food is attractive, and she writes with a pleasingly fluent style
—— Evening StandardDarkly delicious... A celebration of female power and friendship with wonderful food writing
—— Sunday MirrorEngrossing, humorous and candid, this exploration of a woman on the verge of finding herself makes for an enthralling novel
—— Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)An homage to female rage and the bonds of friendship, Supper Club will entice readers like a gourmet feast and leave them just as satisfied
—— Library JournalWilliams explores the complex relationship many women have with their deepest desires
—— Time (Summer Reading Highlights)A bacchanalian homage to women's rage and female friendship
—— Courtney Maum, author of 'I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You'You'll want to feast on this book
—— CosmopolitanA love letter to those friends, both retained and lost, who have an irrevocable influence on who we are and how we understand ourselves. It's a powerful interrogation of the current status of women within western societies. But it is also a provocation to demand more, a challenge to hold each other to account, and an enticement to celebrate the vibrancy of women's lives with the raucous abandon they deserve. It's the counter fairy tale: biting the apple brought wisdom and confidence, not a loss of consciousness. No prince necessary
—— Women’s Review of BooksRebellious and subversive... Williams excels at visceral descriptions of bodies and food alike
—— Mail on SundayA bold and fresh story about food, friendship and feminism...compelling reading.
—— iBold, wild and witty
—— The Sunday ExpressA small utopia celebrating the intoxications of female friendship and standing as a private bulwark against patriarchy
—— TIME MagazineA meditation on life, death and the stories told about both.
—— UK Press SyndicationThe fiction about fiction that takes the breath away… Quichotte expertly does it again.
—— Michael Wood , London Review of BooksFunny and touching and sad and oddly vulnerable, rather like its eponymous hero… [Quichotte is] compelling.
—— Lucasta Miller , SpectatorRushdie is a master storyteller who weaves his fictions and characters into such agreeable tapestries.
—— Sarah Hayes , TabletThe novel's dazzling virtuosity and cascade of cultural references culminate in a final moving moment of hope
—— Jane Shilling , Daily Mail