Patrick White's third novel is a brilliant, original and highly intelligent piece of work. It is also, thank heaven, gay and witty -- as well as tragic, sometimes profound

She has such great psychological insights into human beings, which is rare. She is one of the best fiction writers writing today

This beautifully evoked fourth novel is a further example of her talents

Darkly elegant...Hadley writes with grace and intensity, moving from careful, beautiful delineation of character and place...to moments of haunting power. She is brilliant, too, at offering us different perspectives

Tessa Hadley is an understated writer whose concentration on the details of everyday life belies a breathtaking acuity and articulateness... She once again visualizes the monochrome mundanity of ordinary existence in glorious Technicolor... Hadley captures shades of almost imperceptible grey that the reader only recognizes after reading... Hadley shows, with dizzying aplomb, that the distinction between "literary" fiction and the best domestic fiction is spurious.

Serene style and carefully constructed scenes

Hadley's shrewd observation gains in distinction with every book she writes

Excellent

Tessa Hadley is a writer whose antennae are almost indecently attuned to the interior static of private lives.

Hadley's writing is pin sharp

This concise novel also offers a sharp portrait of modern Britain

Hadley is a writer whose antennae are almost indecently attuned to the interior static of private lives

Hadley has crafted real excitement...The London Train snaps shut with an effective twist

The London Train is an intelligent and gently manipulative story of human weakness and lies... Wicked but delightful

Hadley offers first-class views on the psychological scenery of 21st-century Britain

A passionate, hilarious look at mid-twentieth-century Britain.

Something I know I love ... Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time, which I could read endlessly.

I’m bowled over, hooked and, hurrah, there are 11 more volumes to go as Jenkins grows up. Terrific.

A highly accomplished debut, this is a chilling portrait of racial tension, social immorality, betrayal and love, and also an atmospheric examination of the end of innocence.

The writing is strong and though the sections featuring Gay's earlier life lose momentum, the story picks up pace when the girls' paths become entwined and the conclusion is compelling and thrillingly macabre.

This fictional account of a true story gives a darkly shocking version of the events surrounding this tragic case.

Brilliantly melds a factual post-war murder into a dark fictional tale