The author's sentences reflect the tiny triumphs that mark Paula's life as she gets through each day without alcohol. They work particularly well on audio and the Irish narrator brings the listener right into the minutiae of Paula's life as she struggles to regain all she has lost, most poignantly, the love of her alienated children.

Ger Ryan reads Roddy Doyle's Paula Spencer with absolute conviction...and if you think you are in for a depressing listen, think again. Brave and funny, Paula looks at life with humour and compassion...it all makes for splendid listening.

Doyle gets right inside the head of this 21st-century Dubliner in a stream of consciousness that is by turns moving, funny and just a little bit tedious - a real person, in other words. Ger Ryan gives compelling voice to the Dublin vernacular and for the duration of the CDs Paula becomes a presence in your life.

If you like Paula Spencer, you'll love this full-on reading by Ger Ryan. I loved every minute and look forward to the next installment.

Plaidy brings home the tyranny of Tudor government...In manners and customs...Plaidy is thoroughly at home.

A novel that the reader can sink into and enjoy...sketched vividly and sympathetically. A rewarding book.

Jean Plaidy, by the skilful blending of superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticity of detail and depth of charaterization has become one of the country's most widely read novelists

Joughin's second novel confirms her gift for mining tragi-comic gems from outposts of shabby bohemia

Joughin's poetic prose perfectly conveys the delicacy of human emotion, and the frequent disjunction between art and life'

Like a cross between Margaret Drabble and Francoise Sagan

Joughin has an appealing darkness and urgency, as she potently conveys the pleasures and pains of human interactions

Adeptly written and enjoyable... Ruth's childhood perspectives are extremely well captured

Striking story of Ruth and Gray under the spell of famous poets' lives

Reading Joughin's second novel is like immersing yourself in a cool pool at a hazy summer party ...as addictively abrasive as a shot of cold vodka, this wil leave you both refreshed and gasping for stability

This darkly comic story about unpredictable love is perfect if you're looking for some intelligent chicklit