This novel takes us into a very plausible and frightening 16th-century world... Can Elizabeth survive? Well, you know the answer but this Tudor thriller is so exciting that you find yourself amazed that she did.

This enjoyable novel by a popular historian tells the story of Elizabeth I before she became Queen... She emerges as a thoughtful, wise, precocious and likeable survivor. The novel is meticulously researched and convincingly captures the intimate details of the future Monarch's daily life.

Weir employs contemporary gossip to intriguing effect. With a style that casts even Philippa Gregory's stately gavottes in a dashing new light, Weir convinces with her scholarly grasp

Weir's Elizabeth is nuanced and enchanting, and the author lends a refreshing perspective to well-known characters and events... [An] entertaining look into the rarely explored life of one of England's most fascinating characters

[A] compelling, even irresistible read... Weir offers an exceptionally perceptive as well as imaginative interpretation of the most significant monarch in English history

Shockingly accomplished...what really sets the fresh style, biting satire and postmodern gymnastics ablaze is the brilliance of the writing

Amazing

Effervescent

Wickedly fizzing dialogue... delightful prose

Clever, well paced and structured

Intriguing first novel... The narrative voice floes with wit and vigour...his debut ties author and reader in engaging knots that echo the tangled webs connecting the gossipers and photographers and their privileged fodder

It's uncommonly well written, with a bountiful supply of manic energy... Would Paul Auster kill to write a book as playful, fast-paced and unashamedly populist as this? Doubtful, but somewhere there's a "Paul Auster" who might

Sparky debut

Benedictus takes us on a trail of the contentious highs and lows of the rich and famous in a mixture of dark humour and sharp dialogue. For Benedictus, and his valiant debut novel, more of the same please

The story of the ultimate celeb after-party, it's a knowing wink at publishing and celebrity culture - a high-concept first novel sitting just the right side of salacious

The Afterparty avoids smugness partly because it has more affection that vitriol for the culture that it mocks... It's very funny, but sad, too... Well-drawn characters, smart dialogue and a canny plot