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Summer
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Jan 1, 2026 7:42 AM

Author:Ali Smith

Summer

WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021

A once-in-a-generation series, Ali Smith's Seasonal quartet is a tour-de-force about love, time, art, politics, and how we live now.

'A maestra's portrait of her age . . . remarkable' Guardian

In the present, Sacha knows the world's in trouble. Her brother Robert just is trouble. Their mother and father are having trouble. Meanwhile the world's in meltdown - and the real meltdown hasn't even started yet. In the past, a lovely summer. A different brother and sister know they're living on borrowed time.

This is a story about people on the brink of change. They're family, but they think they're strangers. So: where does family begin? And what do people who think they've got nothing in common have in common?

Summer.

Discover all four instalments: Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. Ali Smith's new novel, Companion piece, is available now.

*****

'The first great coronavirus novel - a book to savour, a literary tour de force' Evening Standard

'Exquisite. Smith is in a class of her own'Nicola Sturgeon

'An astonishing finale to a prescient series . . . Ali Smith brilliantly weaves strands of joy and celebration to end her Seasonal Quartet'Irish Times

Reviews

An astonishing finale to a prescient series . . . Ali Smith brilliantly weaves strands of joy and celebration to end her Seasonal Quartet

—— Evening Standard

The first great coronavirus novel - a book to savour, a literary tour de force that captures the nation's psyche exquisitely

—— Evening Standard

This singular writer has found her moment

—— Prospect

A maestra's portrait of her age. . . remarkable

—— Guardian

Few writers today can make a more compelling claim to singularity of innovation and sustained brilliance

—— TLS

The bravura performance of a writer, poised at the edge of the day's vast darkness, gathering all the warmth and light of our inner summer

—— The Washington Post

Smith bring[s] this brilliant quartet to a satisfying close

—— NPR

The final flourish of a mazy and beautiful quartet

—— Telegraph

Sublime

—— The Boston Globe

Brilliant

—— The Scotsman

The novel's hopeful message about the healing power of friendship ensures the quartet ends on a feel-good note

—— Sunday Times

A remarkable experiment with timeliness in fiction

—— Literary Review

A Deadly Education is a book that lives up to its gob smacker of an opening sentence and follows right through to its shocker of an ending that promises more to come. Naomi Novik is relentlessly innovative and entertaining

—— TERRY BROOKS

Fresh, smart, and delightfully unique. It's Hogwarts with higher stakes and sharper claws, and I absolutely loved it.

—— ALIX E. HARROW

The author's most entertaining novel to date

—— SFX

Fun and beautifully written

—— Metro

A story that never stops moving while always remaining focused on developing the characters of both the people and the school itself

—— Locus Magazine

Mohamed is . . . intent on expanding her world, listing its teeming varieties and presenting a wealth of character and language

—— TLS

Evocative and enlightening

—— New Statesman

Heaving with life . . . The Fortune Men excavates the forgotten reaches of British colonial history . . . The purposeful detail is an implicit corrective to all the times when the lives of people like Mattan have not been considered at all

—— Telegraph

A moving work

—— The Week, Novel of the Week

Nadifa Mohamed's richly evocative novel paints a vivid picture of life in this notorious neighbourhood as she visits a forgotten miscarriage of justice

—— Vogue

[Mohamed] creates an intriguing snapshot of an era and a complex main character you can't help but root for

—— The Times

It's unbearably wrenching . . . Mohamed makes the outrage at the book's heart blazingly unignorable by inhabiting Mattan's point of view, a bold endeavour pulled off to powerful effect. Passages from the barbaric climax are still echoing in my head, even as I type

—— Daily Mail

Just as Half of a Yellow Sun drew out the little documented dramas of the Biafran war, Mohamed describes an East Africa under Mussolini's rule . . . such an accomplished first novel

—— Independent, on Black Mamba Boy

A first novel of elegance and beauty... a stunning debut

—— The Times, on Black Mamba Boy

A haunting and intimate portrait of the lives of women in war-torn Somalia

—— New York Journal of Books, on The Orchard of Lost Souls

Mixing startling lyricism and sheer brutality, this is a significant, affecting book

—— Guardian, on Black Mamba Boy

With the unadorned language of a wise, clear-eyed observer, Nadifa Mohamed has spun an unforgettable tale

—— Taiye Selasi, on The Orchard of Lost Souls

A moving and captivating tale of survival and hope in a war-torn country, and confirms Mohamed's stature as one of Britain's best young novelists

—— Stylist on The Orchard of Lost Souls

Mesmerising

—— Daily Nerd

Mackintosh poses urgent questions about social expectations and free will that are relevant to all realities

—— Poets and Writers

Heartbreaking but redemptive, and lightened by French's trademark humour, this is a compelling read that will keep you poised between laughter and tears

—— Daily Mail

A tantalising story of motherhood told with Dawn French's signature warmth

—— Sainsbury's Magazine

As ever, even in the darkest of times, Dawn has found humour to inject into her novel

—— Best

A brilliant book

—— Good Housekeeping

The life-affirming and unmissable new novel

—— Eastern Daily Press

A tale told with warmth

—— Daily Record

While Dawn French's latest novel contains a dash of humour, it's also heart-wrenching

—— The Hunsbury Handbook

A fabulous emotional tearjerker of a novel

—— Silversurfers

Praise for Dawn French

—— -

Hilarious and brilliant

—— Woman & Home

I adored According to YES. It's so different to anything I've read in forever, so charming, wise, brilliantly written. I loved it all

—— Marian Keyes

Witty and wise, it'll have you burning the midnight oil. A cracker

—— Woman's Weekly

Very funny and packs an emotional clout. Brilliant!

—— Heat

An enlightening and feel-good read offering a fresh look at life and how to embrace it. Funny and enjoyable to the end

—— We Love This Book

There is lots of fun to be had reading this book. It's impossible not to warm to Rosie, a funny and open-hearted woman who acts as a salve and comfort blanket for this unhappy, inhibited family. There's something quite joyous about the way she unashamedly romps her way through the novel, changing the lives of those around her for the better

—— Express

Another hilarious novel!

—— Bella

French can spin a yarn . . . which sets According to YES apart. Think the vicar of Dibley, without the dog collar. YES YES YES indeed

—— Independent

Wise and poignant

—— Beyond the Joke

Heart-warming

—— Choice Magazine
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