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The Parrots
The Parrots
Feb 15, 2026 11:11 AM

Author:Alexandra Shulman

The Parrots

'A sparkling tale of seduction and suspense' - Tatler

'Her prose buzzes with pitch-perfect modernity' Observer

Outsiders see things others don't.

Blessed with status, love, wealth and connections the Tennisons seemed the most enviable of families - until Antonella and Matteo Fullardi, dangerously attractive Italian siblings and offspring of an Italian fashion dynasty, enter their well-managed lives.

Calligrapher Katherine, gallery owner Rick and their student son Josh discover that the Fullardis are just as unsettling and alluring as the exotic parrots that now inhabit their tranquil London garden.

But this damaged pair are the catalyst that propel the Tennisons into a spiral of chaos, calling into question their place in a changing world of new money, new morality and new menace.

Reviews

Shulman skewers the everyday problems of family life with a beady eye for domestic detail.

—— Daily Telegraph

A self-assured and intense examination of a marriage under pressure.

—— The Times Magazine

A well-executed social satire

—— Daily Mail

Her prose buzzes with pitch-perfect modernity

—— Observer

A sparkling tale of seduction and suspense

—— Tatler

A real sense of menace pervades

—— Good Housekeeping

An incisive commentary on life in the capital today . . . compelling . . .her pared-down prose has all the clean, unobtrusive elegance of an Armani jacket.

—— The Lady

Sharply observed and surprisingly salty, this is an engrossing second novel from the editor of British Vogue.

—— A Little Bird

Kept me eagerly turning the pages way past bedtime . . . would make a fine addition to your holiday reading list.

—— Cultural Wednesdays

an erudite, thought provoking read, set within a lively, action filled atmosphere

—— Kathy Jesson , Nudge

Ingenious thriller… Pearl shows an admirable capacity for constructing an intriguing narrative around a nugget of historical information.

—— Nick Rennison , Sunday Times

A mighty book

—— Sunday Herald

A fast-paced, sexually charged whodunit that suggests a far more complex reality... Flanagan's writing is a brilliant reflection of a world full of steamy sex, drugs and violence, with a touch of high-status voyeurism... The Unknown Terrorist mocks the thriller genre even as it fulfils its expectations

—— Uzodinma Iweala , New York Times

Well observed... Never less than a ballsy, enjoyable read... Like Showgirls written by Don DeLillo instead of Joe Eszterhas

—— Literary Review

A little corker

—— Daily Sport

A marvel of enlightened entertainment.

—— Sainsbury's Magazine

Bizarre but very readable; this novel is recommended.

—— The Book Bag

Barker’s writing is completely original and insightful.

—— Irish News

It worked beautifully for me.

—— A Life in Books

Impertinent, irreverent and very funny.

—— Tablet

Absorbing… Serious without being solemn, sweet without being sickly, it’s an elegant tale about the unexpected places where kindness and sympathy can flourish and deepen.

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Express

Kennedy’s comedy is ruthlessly observed – an anti-romance that warms into something moving and profound. It’s also a brilliant portrait of city living.

—— Saga Magazine

Two lonely people go about their day in London in this typically Kennedian and utterly wonderful novel… but they find their way towards each other in an agonising love story that’s all about morality and decency in a careless world… Kennedy is a stand-up comedian, and observational comedy runs through this novel in interior monologues that are heartbreakingly familiar and laugh-out-loud sad. Her sentences are some of the best in modern fiction (there’s a springer spaniel called Hector with “black, bewildered ears… [that] made him look as if he’d recently heard dreadful news and still hadn’t adjusted.”) and reading her prose is like eating those fizzy sweets that are both sweet and sour make you wince at the back of your mouth – then go back for more… It’s gorgeous.

—— Bookseller

Consistently raw and powerful… emotionally exhausting… But there’s a lot to be said for a novel which sets so much store by “affection and tenderness”, and in which the emotional peaks and the possibilities of redemption and renewal are marked by the simple holding of hands.

—— Alastair Mabbott , Herald

I love, love, love the Rushdie – I think it’s my favourite of his… The fantasy elements are just magical and, of course, it’s gorgeously written.

—— Marianne Faithfull , Observer

An apocalyptic battle between reason and unreason, good and evil, light and darkness, with all the bells and whistles of a Hollywood blockbuster.

—— Carlos Fraenkel , London Review of Books

Not only a beautifully written satire-as-fairytale but the subject matter is bang on trend… That Rushdie should still be writing so potently and still be continuing to push back the frontiers, when he could easily pull up a deck chair and languish on the frontiers he already owns is wonderful, inspirational and profoundly (but only in the best way) terrifying… 10/10, Master.

—— Starburst Magazine

Ambitious, smart and dark fable that is full of rich and profound notions about human nature.

—— Katherine McLaughlin , SciFi Now

I like to think how many readers are going to admire the courage of this book, revel in its fierce colours, its boisterousness, humour and tremendous pizzazz, and take delight in its generosity of spirit.

—— Ursula K Le Guin , Guardian
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