Set in the 19th-century East End, this debut by Vivienne Westwood's muse is the tale of a jewel thief and mother of four who is forced to flee her home when one of her victims seeks revenge. A delectable mix of lust, loot and adventure

Her novel has an undeniable verve and a brash energy

An enjoyable romp through nineteenth-century Whitechapel

Stockbridge deftly captures the mood of Dickensian London in this gripping debut

Catches the absorption and giddy rush of adolescent love... It is also, for all the tragic momentum and the apparently kamikaze consciousness of many of its characters, often funny and quirkily observed. Quietly compulsive and finally moving

A heart-stoppingly moving story... Murakami is, without a doubt, one of the world's finest novelists

Evocative, entertaining, sexy and funny; but then Murakami is one of the best writers around

Norwegian Wood . . . not only points to but manifests the author's genius

An intimate and dark story... A beautifully introspective novel that made me feel all the emotions

Murakami must already rank among the world's greatest living novelists

Such is the exquisite, gossamer construction of Murakami's writing that everything he chooses to describe trembles with symbolic possibility

Vintage Murakami [and] easily the most erotic of [his] novels

[A] treat...Murakami captures the heartbeat of his generation and draws the reader in so completely you mourn when the story is done

Murakami's most famous coming of age novel of love, loss and longing

A truly unique exploration of turbulent family relationships and a young girl on the cusp of adulthood grappling with grown-up emotions.

The book initially reads like the familiar tale of a cosy, suburban middle-class LA household concealing frustrated lives behind an outwardly-cheery veneer. But by kicking the narrative left with the surrealist twist of Rose's psychic tastebuds it becomes so much more: an unpredictable meeting of modern magic and melancholic realism.

The book I wish I had written ... it's so clever

Aimee Bender has got that cool, quirky American thing going on. Taking an unlikely premise - a girl who discovers she can taste emotions in food - she transforms it into a lovely, lonesome universal tale.

This is a moving and fantastical tale of the secrets and lies that lurk beneath the surface of a seemingly happy family.

Ultimate weepy foodie book ... fabulous

It's a charming, funny, wistful novel, with serious things to say about feelings people hide and the nature of true nourishment

Lose yourself in a fantastical gastronomical journey ... This novel explores familial love in an unexpected way, and you'll be hooked from the first taste

This emotional and moving tale blew us away with its beauty

It's as beautiful as it is strange. Bender writes such lyrical sentences, you pause over them in wonder. She has an unusual take on life; and makes even the ordinary extraordinary. It's a compulsive page turner. This book is already a best seller in America, and has been embraced by book clubs. I loved it. It's one of those books you don't want to finish - and even when you have - it stays in your mind. Bender has written three previous novels. I intend to savour them all

This novel, in the style of stories like Chocolat, is a dreamy feast of gorgeous writing ... Gently, beautiful, odd, this is a story to sip and savour

An intriguing premise for an original novel about a family and its relationships

Moving and highly original, this book will make you look at food in a whole new light