'A very funny book...A brilliant and exceedingly well written series'

Manning writes always with a poet's care for words and it is her usual distinction of style and construction that lifts the novel- far, far above the average run

The most considerable of our women novelists

Books like this one succeed...in drawing our emotions into politics. What will remain is the plain bravery of his characters...their struggle has found an honest chronicler

Andre Brink's writing is built on conviction...A Dry White Season describes the triumph of tyranny

Exuberant... for those who like their wines full-bodied and their meals rich and zesty... earthly secrets of strength, suffering, passion and cooking in a humorous and well-drawn portrait of a woman who loves as well as she cooks

Subverts macho morality with refreshingly unexpected narrative twists magical realism... pacing that rivals Romancing the Stone

An enchanting book, an open-eyed fairy story

Wonderful... hard to put down... it is rare to come across a book so unusual