Though there are some excellent one-liners (“He was no oil painting –unless the painting was a Picasso”), the novel is more than just a spoof: Tim Walker brings to his plot the care of a proper crime novelist… Every character is nailed with a deft line…Smoke Over Malibu reminded me a little of This Book Will Save Your Life by AM Homes in its portrayal of LA misfits finding companionship. It’s a hardboiled story with a soft centre. Characters grow, wounds are healed and old friends become lovers. I can’t help thinking that it would make a great film, if only they still made films like it.

Funny, quirky and confidently written, Smoke Over Malibu isn’t at all what you expect and that’s half of the charm.

I read this in one sitting and am still crying. Tina and Jesika are heroes. A brave, important, heart-breaking book

Amanda Berriman's Home kept me up late for all the right reasons. It's a tender portrait of a family in crisis that nevertheless grips like a thriller, a chronicle of extraordinary events that never slides into sensationalism. I loved Jesika - the girl through whose eyes the story is told - and her mother, who in remarkable times also faces the unremarkable challenges of motherhood we can all identify with.

‘Home’ is an extraordinary achievement. Jesika is utterly unique yet it also feels like there is a chorus of children’s voices behind her, telling their story too. It’s an important story to hear. A must-read from an exceptional new writer.
Totally compelling. I read this behind my fingers and couldn’t put it down until I knew if Jesika was safe or not. An important reminder about what the world looks like from a child’s perspective.

I’m not sure I breathed while reading this. Jesika jumps off the page and into your heart. She will stay with me forever.

Jesika is so real and unforgettable … An extraordinary book.

There’s nothing more heart-stopping than a child in danger. Mandy Berriman skilfully takes you by the hand into some bleak territory, all too common for many of today’s children. A need-to-read novel.

HOME is an incredibly brave novel that never shies away from the harsh realities of poverty.

Written in the style of Emma Donoghue's Room this is a sensitive and thought-provoking novel. It's told through the innocent eyes of four-year-old Jesika, who lives below the poverty line in a small flat, with her mother Tina. But when Jesika befriends Paige, she is told a troubling secret that could destroy this already struggling family forever.

It's a challenge not to become completely engrossed

[A] thought-provoking novel about a section of society that's so easily overlooked

A sensitive novel ... told through the innocent lens of four-year-old Jesika. It's a challenge to not become completely engrossed and concerned for her family's wellbeing.

Amanda Berriman's heart-wrenching tale of a family on the edge

Albert is a natural storyteller who writes with the confidence of an old hand

A bewitching, elegant blend of contemporary thriller and dark fantasy

Simultaneously enticing and fearsome, much like the Hazel Wood of the title ... insidiously beautiful

This eerie debut YA novel puts such a terrifying twist on classic bedtime stories, you'll not sleep a wink.

A story of curiosity and obsession, this is full of rich detail and is a book to get lost in

A gloriously assured debut, set in a beautifully drawn London… A story of obsession and destruction, hope and heart, which beguiles as much as the mermaid herself.

The most buzzed-about book of 2018 so far is also the most magical… the definition of ‘must-read’

It feels like 2018 has more than its share of debut novels to get excited about. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar nails the 18th century as convincingly as Francis Spufford in Golden Hill, but with supernatural elements that bring to mind Susannah Clarke and Sarah Perry.’

A deliciously salty slab of historical fiction… The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock crests a new wave of historical fiction that brings the complex lives of historical women out of the shadows.

Big, big things are predicted for this debut. Set in 1785, merchant Jonah Hancock finds himself in possession of a mermaid (“More of a sea-goblin, aint it?”) and is invited by an ageing courtesan to pool their resources and turn it into a society showstopper which just happens to take place in her “high-society parlour” where he meets the wonderful Angelica. Rich in detail and utterly charming, it’s the natural successor to The Essex Serpent and The Miniaturist.

An epic and intricately researched historical novel evokes 1780s London – an era of spectacle, Soho courtesans, lavish parties and dark secrets.

A wonderful romp through Georgian London.

A wonderful read

Beautiful courtesans, destructive mermaids, mercenary madams, raucous sailors; there's little Imogen Hermes Gowar doesn't throw at her extraordinary debut novel. And thanks to her deft, skilfully weaved plot and gorgeous writing, it all comes together beautifully.

A fabulous new author... A wonderfully atmospheric historical novel which is vivid and rich enough in its depiction of 18th century London. Posing questions of social mobility, the status of women and the role of family, this is a debut novel in which you can get lost.

Absolutely delightful... I read it greedily, savouring the characters’ adventures and their wit, resilience and humanity as they contend with the glittering, filthy, dangerous city that was Georgian London. The novel is a well-researched, charming, immensely entertaining read

Immerse yourself in Georgian London... beautiful storytelling with a hint of magic.

I was captivated by this beautiful book until the last perfect sentence

Good god, it is a wonderful book

Exquisitely written, flawlessly imagined, The Mermaid & Mrs Hancock's siren song - of courtesans and merchants, shipwrecks and wonders, love and grief, ambition and passion - will echo like the ocean in a seashell long after the last page is turned.

[A] gripping debut… independence, love, class, death and gender stereotypes — are skilfully explored here through a late 18th-century lens

Beautifully written, sinuous, enchanting, brilliantly researched, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock goes deep into the eighteenth century - its grand front rooms, the secret places, the streets and the ocean that changed everything about Britain and it lays bare the hearts of a cast of unforgettable characters

This story really is spellbinding, an unforgettable jewel of a novel, filled to the brim with intelligence, heart and wit.

Beautifully written… By turns bawdy, witty and moving this is a glorious romp through Georgian London, in “the age of unlikely ascents”. With a truly gorgeous package á la The Essex Serpent, it deserves to be huge

Delightful… A gloriously immersive read, bringing Georgian London vividly to life… The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock impresses with Gowar’s attention to vivid and sensual detail

Its energy, characterisation and great sense of period completely seduced me.

An utterly absorbing read.

A gorgeously immersive novel.

Stunning.

In 2018 [mermaids] are back in vogue.

A terrific debut

The Mermaid And Mrs Hancock is the rare book that actually lives up to its hype and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t this year’s The Essex Serpent. Lush, vivid descriptions of 1780s Soho, proto-feminism, sparkly dialogue and a pleasingly irreverent style, it’s historical fiction even for people who don’t like historical fiction.

A tale of love, family and social status movingly told.

An absorbing tale of curiosity and obsession… Gowar’s prose is marvellous… There’s a beautiful balance of rhythm and intrigue, and an eye for what brings a book alive.

The most anticipated novel of the year.

An accomplished, captivating debut novel.

- The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is a roistering, swaggering, bawdy novel… [a] confident and accomplished debut

Lush, vivid descriptions of 1780s Soho, proto-feminism, sparkly dialogue and a pleasingly irreverent style.

Prose that’s as effervescent as it is intelligent.

Gowar’s prose shimmers.

Rich and humorous, it’s a heady period whirl with a magic realist twist.

A highly impressing debut… An absorbing tale of sex, money, ambition and the lure of the new.

Gowar’s wonderful novel expertly captures that sense of a more fluid society… An engrossing and well-paced novel, shot through with melancholy, yet filled with wonder and desire. The sort of book you lose yourself in for days.

Imogen Hermes Gowar’s bawdy, picturesque romp through the heady miasma of Georgian London is easily one of the most wonderfully immersive, richly drawn books I’ve read in years… This piece of historical fiction is really something special… Some truly exquisite writing.

All-consuming and spellbinding.

Gowar's writing is energetic, and she has wonderful attention both to physical and emotional detail and to the circumstances that constrain lives

This glittering debut novel examines every rung of 18th-century London’s social ladder with keen wit and in delicious detail

A Dazzling account of dreams and desire in Georgian London