Jean Plaidy doesn't just write the history, she makes it come alive

Outstanding

Full-blooded, dramatic, exciting

Jean Plaidy conveys the texture of various patches of the past with such rich complexity

Jean Plaidy's books are a celebration of women's spirit throughout history

Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama

I re-read the "Dance" every five years or so and always find something new – the world has changed but the characters are evergreen. Everybody has a Widmerpool in their life.

A masterful stylist and a wise, often hilarious observer of human nature and his times, Anthony Powell is an under-appreciated literary gem. The pleasures and dramas of the "Dance" continue to illuminate daily life.

Comic, satisfying, thought-provoking, addictive

[A] comic masterpiece

It's his supreme skill in mastering a lengthily interwoven chronicle, the evolution of such a range and variety of pin-point characters, the wit and the cultural ambition that give the novel a unique place in English Literature.

He has wit, style, and panache, in a world where those qualities are in permanently short supply

Rachel Heath is excellent on the atmosphere of post-war Britain and the lure of South Africa.

This author is good at sex, writing well about female sensuality.

The interweaving of the lives of Gay and Laura is skilfully handled, the plot ever-thickening as the two move towards that fatal voyage back to Britain.

Rachel Heath's dark compelling debut novel tells the tale of two very different girls; both are misfits trying to find a story in which they can star.

... examines the extraordinary lengths people will go to when driven by love.

Those who survive do dreadful things. This is the nub of their experiences and also, hints the author of our own.

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