Author:Patrick White

To hesitate on the edge of life or to plunge in and risk change -this is the dilemma explored in THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. Patrick White's second novel is set in thirties London and portrays the complex ebb and flow of relationships within the Standish family. Mrs Standish, ageing but still beautiful, is drawn into secret liaisons, while her daughter Eden experiments openly and impulsively with left-wing politics and love affairs. Only the son, Elyot, remains an aloof and scholarly observer - until dramatic events shock him into sudden self-knowledge.
Scene after scene is worked out with exactness and subtlety which no second-string novelist can scent, far less nail to paper
—— Daily TelegraphAn unmistably major writer who commands a scope, power and sheer technical skill which put other more ambitious novelists into the shade
—— A. AlvarezBrilliant and masterful
—— NationPowell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion.
—— John BanvilleThe novels of Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell.
—— Louisa YoungReading “A Dance to the Music of Time” was such a joyous experience, I remember wishing there'd been more than twelve volumes.
—— Roddy DoyleI 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.
—— Daisy GoodwinA 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.
—— Claire MessudComic, satisfying, thought-provoking, addictive
—— The Telegraph[A] comic masterpiece
—— Irish TimesIt'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.
—— Melvyn BraggHe has wit, style, and panache, in a world where those qualities are in permanently short supply
—— The New York Review of BooksRachel Heath is excellent on the atmosphere of post-war Britain and the lure of South Africa.
—— IndependentThis author is good at sex, writing well about female sensuality.
—— IndependentThe 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.
—— IndependentRachel 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.
—— Daily Mail... examines the extraordinary lengths people will go to when driven by love.
—— Easy LivingThose who survive do dreadful things. This is the nub of their experiences and also, hints the author of our own.
—— The Sunday TimesA 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 Lady MagazineThe 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.
—— TelegraphThis fictional account of a true story gives a darkly shocking version of the events surrounding this tragic case.
—— Good Book GuideBrilliantly melds a factual post-war murder into a dark fictional tale
—— Telegraph