Author:Tessa Hadley
Rivalry, unruly desire and ugly secrets poison a family holiday in this gripping novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Free Love and Late in the Day.
'Few writers give me such consistent pleasure' Zadie Smith
Four siblings meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. But under the idyllic surface lie shattering tensions.
Roland has come with his new wife, and his sisters don't like her. Fran has brought her children, who soon uncover an ugly secret in a ruined cottage in the woods. Alice has invited Kasim, an outsider, who makes plans to seduce Roland's teenage daughter. And Harriet, the eldest, finds her quiet self-possession ripped apart when passion erupts unexpectedly.
Over the course of the holiday, a familiar way of life falls apart forever.
'Exquisite' The Times
'Wonderful' Guardian
'Magnificent' Sunday Times
One of the best novels of 2016.
—— Ron Charles , Washington PostI find Tessa Hadley’s work genuinely helpful, especially when it comes to the big subjects: love and marriage, the political versus the personal, children, friendship. And then there are the sentences themselves, so precise and beautiful, often sly, sometimes devastating, always expertly paced. Few writers give me such consistent pleasure.
—— Zadie SmithShe has such great psychological insights into human beings, which is rare. She is one of the best fiction writers writing today
—— Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieA new Tessa Hadley is a pleasure to be savoured… The Past is a hugely enjoyable and keenly intelligent novel, brimming with the vitality of unruly desire.
—— Sameer Rahim, four stars , Daily TelegraphHadley is an exquisite writer, with a fine eye for detail and a way of crafting sentences that make you stop and inhale
—— The TimesTessa Hadley recruits admirers with each book. She writes with authority, and with delicacy: she explores nuance, but speaks plainly; she is one of those writers a reader trusts.
—— Hilary MantelTessa Hadley has become one of this country’s great contemporary novelists. She is equipped with an armoury of techniques and skills that may yet secure her a position as the greatest of them.
—— Anthony Quinn , GuardianMy favourite contemporary novelist... Nobody explores the mystery of relationships better than Hadley.
—— Deborah MoggachA masterful novel
—— SpectatorTessa Hadley is funny, precise, sensuous, and one of the best writers of family life that you are ever likely to encounter – simultaneously sympathetic and penetrating
—— Daily Mail Books of the YearShe deserves all the prizes. Hadley is psychologically acute, drily witty and…absolutely wonderful on place
—— ObserverSplendid… Hadley’s gift for depicting the interior lives of children and adults rivals Ian McEwan’s
—— Chicago TribuneTessa Hadley excels at presenting the contrasting viewpoints of children, teenagers and adults, and her evocative descriptions of the English countryside are a delight.
—— Anthony Gardner , Mail on SundayPoetic, tender and full of wry humour. A delight
—— Sunday MirrorTender dissection of a certain sort of English middle-class life is magnificently done: half celebration, half elegy.
—— Phil Baker , Sunday TimesTessa Hadley has an exquisite eye for detail.
—— Joanne Finney , Good HousekeepingFull of wonders
—— ObserverA brilliant British take on two generations of family inhabiting the same house.
—— Tim Martin , Daily TelegraphAn astute and finely written novel
—— StylistExquisite… For anyone who cherishes Anne Tyler and Alice Munro, the book offers similar deep pleasures. Hadley crystallizes the atmosphere of ordinary life in prose somehow miraculous and natural.... Extraordinary
—— Washington PostAn extremely affecting novel of cumulative richness, yet there is nothing ponderous about Hadley’s sparkling and sensuous prose: she captures the comedy of family life brilliantly.
—— Stephanie Cross , LadyNo one writes family like Hadley
—— VogueA classy, observant page turner.
—— Woman and HomeSharply delicate.
—— Cathy Rentzenbrink , StylistTender and well-made and poignant, it is a gentle delight.
—— Cressida Connolly , OldieMasterly yet understated fiction.
—— Lucy Scholes , IndependentTime and again, the sheer truthfulness of Hadley’s writing blows me away. In the last section, the beauty of the structure unfurls like a peacock’s tail.
—— Saga MagazineSubtle and beautifully written.
—— Peter Parker , SpectatorProbably the best novel of the year.
—— Philip Hensher , SpectatorDraws sibling love and rivalries with as much gentle satire as poignancy.
—— Arifa Akbar , IndependentNo one delineates familial bad behaviour the way [Hadley] does.
—— Rachel Cooke , ObserverTessa Hadley has the natural bent of a short-story writer, given to careful description and the kind of feinted closure that pushes uncomfortably past happily ever after.
—— Radhika Jones , Time MagazineHadley is so insightful, such a lovely writer, that she pulls you right into the tangle of wires that connect and trip up the stressed siblings.
—— People MagazineHer best so far
—— Evening StandardHadley is expert at conveying emotion... The way she draws each character is so good the book feels like a huge achievement. Her best so far.
—— Evening StandardHadley, who won the Hawthornden prize this month for The Past, is literary fiction’s best kept secret. Don’t let her fellow novelists keep her for themselves.
—— Alex O'Connell , The Times[The Past is] magnificently done: half celebration, half elegy.
—— Phil Baker , Sunday TimesThere are hints of Larkin in her tender descriptions of landscape and imaginative responses to the ineffable… All her books are wonderful.
—— Anthony Quinn , GuardianThis is a hugely enjoyable and keenly intelligent novel, brimming with the vitality of unruly desire.
—— Sunday TelegraphWarmly entertaining
—— iA bittersweet comedy with some stinging contemporary resonance… Acutely observed and quirkily humorous… light but intelligent.
—— Juanita Coulson , LadyWith Tyler’s typical warmth and humour, and her knack for creating endearingly quirky characters, the result is believable, moving and entertaining.
—— The LadyThis is a stand-out debut from a hugely accomplished 26-year-old author. It’s beautifully written, completely gripping and perfectly catches a girl on the cusp of adulthood.
—— BooksellerBeautiful, heady language and under-the-skin storytelling.
—— Kerry Fowler , Sainsbury's MagazineA good shot at becoming the must-read novel of the summer.
—— Alexandra Allter , Miami HeraldIlluminates the darker side of infatuation under the glare of the Californian sun.
—— Cathy Rentzenbrink , StylistVivid, exacting portrait of a vulnerable young girl coming of age.
—— Fanny Blake , Woman & HomeGripping read.
—— Good HousekeepingThe strength of The Girls lies in Cline’s ability to evoke both the textures and atmosphere of those painful in-between times… [Cline] is a powerful interpreter of ambiguous emotional vectors, and the catastrophic directions in which they can lead.
—— Alex Clark , ObserverCline’s real achievement is not so much the dread-filled journey to the book’s harrowing climax, however, but her vividly drawn central character and how she stumbles from invisible, impressionable bystander to unwitting accomplice… Cline is excellent at capturing the complex negotiations and compromises of girlhood… The Girls is a horror story for our times, a gripping and richly poetic account… Its ambition and reach are immense.
—— Gary Kaill , SkinnyVividly reimagines 1960s California… Cline’s portrait of teenage girl-dom is note perfect.
—— Hannah Shaddock , Radio TimesDubbed fiction’s most exciting new voice… This page-turner is a powerful insight into the culture of gang mentality… The read of the summer.
—— Irish TatlerNotable for its finely wrought prose, its piercing insight into the teen mind and the gorgeous way it relates terrible things. Read it before the movie is cast…and enjoy Evie for the wonderfully written creation she is’
—— IGets off to a quietly thrilling start… Her sentences are often strong and lovely, indicative of voice rather than merely of style.
—— Dwight Garner , New York TimesMesmerising novel… Impressive book’
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily ExpressFirst the heady language and sensuous descriptions will hook you, then the extraordinary story of free love, intoxication and violence… Remarkable debut… The Girls brims with intrigue… It’s the intimacy and intricacy of Cline’s prose and her sharp sense of humanity that makes the book shimmer with life… The Girls is a spectacular story.
—— Culture WhisperSun-scorched coming of age chiller… Brutally convincing.
—— Anthony Cummins , MetroIf you’re only going to pack one book next to your swimming trunks this year, this is the one to go for… [Emma Cline] Has hit a home run with her first swing.
—— Joshua Burt , IndependentIt’s disturbing…but you keep reading.
—— StellarWonderfully readable, and acutely observed, this is that rare thing: a beach novel of real substance.
—— Dan Brotzel , UK Press SyndicationThe big holiday read of summer. Find a sunlounger and get started.
—— Sunday TimesSubtly provoking novel… The strength of The Girls lies in Cline’s ability to evoke both the textures and atmosphere of those painful in-between times; the desperate rush to fill an emotional vacuum… Cline has a talent for capturing that uncanniness, the fault lines in our sense of our stability… she is a powerful interpreter of ambiguous emotional vectors, and the catastrophic directions in which they can lead.
—— Alex Clark , GuardianThrilling… Gritty, shocking and ever so readable; more than living up to the hype that greeted its initial sale.
—— Running in HeelsWonderfully readable, finely written and acutely observed.
—— Dan Brotzel , Irish NewsOne of the pleasures…is its immediacy… The book is a trancelike accumulation of intense adolescent feelings and myopic impressions… The setting is rendered both vividly and delicately… [A] Slender, absorbing book.
—— Lidija Haas , Daily TelegraphIf you're only going to pack one book this year, make it this one.
—— IThis chilling story of fractured innocence is beautifully written in wonderfully descriptive, sometimes dream-like prose. A stunningly powerful, spellbinding cautionary tale.
—— Deirdre O''Brien , Sunday MirrorBoth in person and on the page Cline is wise beyond her years. I read the book with a biro underlining phrases that I wish I could write. I am no longer jealous, I am just in awe.
—— Marlanne Power , Irish Independent'I really enjoyed it... A compelling coming-of-age story... Cline focuses not on the murders themselves, but on the landscape of adolescence, accurately portraying the boredom and lassitude, the yearning and insecurities of that awkward transitional stage... Stunningly written, in fresh, youthful prose, expect to see The Girls on deckchairs, beach towels and best-seller lists over the coming months
—— Justine Carbery , Irish IndependentUnnervingly perceptive … Part murderous thriller, part meditation on the vulnerability of teenage girls, it’s an exquisite, insightful and chilling read.
—— Alexandra Heminsley , PoolUnexpected and brilliant debut novel.
—— Yaa Gyasi , I-D ViceAn intense evocation of adolescence…absorbing debut novel.
—— Lidija Haas , TelegraphAs gripping as a thriller, it’s a powerful exploration of hero worship of all kinds, and the shapes into which girls force themselves as they attempt to grow up.
—— Anna Carey , Irish TimesThis year's Miniaturist
—— Sam Baker , PoolA fantastic writer, her intelligence is extraordinary
—— Linda Grant , Radio 4Gripping novel… Cline’s debut is a real page-turner.
—— Olivia-Anne Cleary , RevealIt is the language which elevates the novel to brilliance… Cline takes ordinary words and fits them together in patterns that shouldn’t work but…bring[s] a vibrancy to her prose that captivates.
—— Mature TimesNot the cheeriest summer read of the year, but it is one of the most powerful… Cline masterfully uses the sultriness of the season to explore the complex negotiations of girlhood.
—— SkinnyHighly charged literary debut… Visceral, seductive and delicately seething, Cline articulates the labyrinth anxieties of adolescence and the importance of belonging with a personal, finely tuned prose and a restrained, drip-feed pace that belies her age.
—— Natalie Rigg , AnotherA dark, erotically charged story of seduction, coercion and abuse emerges that has deliberate echoes of the Manson Family massacres in 1969… Cline brilliantly conveys the predatory cultural and sexual forces to which teenage girls are so often vulnerable. And her prose is completely to die for.
—— MetroThe Girls stands apart from other treatments of Manson.
—— Scotland on SundayGripping, and highly impressive.
—— Stephanie Cross , LadySumptuous prose… Believe the hype: she’s one to watch.
—— The Big IssueThe narrative is layered and complex, as even the young Evie seems to be an astute observer of human nature, who does not gloss over the less glamorous details, even in those she loves and admires. Throughout the novel, the fragility of the relationships are laid bare… [An] Immersive experience, both for the reader, and a narrator looking to reclaim some of her most vivid memories.
—— Conor O'Donovan , HeadstuffA gripping read.
—— Joannae Finney , Good HousekeepingCline brilliantly captures the precise, sultry prose the vulnerable and highly-charged sensibility of adolescence in a hotly-tipped debut inspired by the Manson Family massacre that – for once – justifies the hype.
—— Claire Allfree , Daily MailEloquent, coming-of-age debut… I was quite sure it could never live up to the hype. How wrong I was… Well-crafted prose… This is a perceptive, insightful and beautifully written book on the often harsh realities of the formative teenage years and a telling truth of what some will do to belong and feel loved. It is a must-read.
—— Jennifer McShane , ImageIt unsettles and disturbs in unpredictable ways. Above all, Cline is excellent on the female coffee table book adolescent psyche and the ways in which girlhood is so often an act performed for the opposite sex… The end result is gripping, and highly impressive.
—— Stephanie Cross , LadyAn intense evocation of adolescence…set to be the breakout book of summer. Every page throbs with the threat of violence.
—— Daily TelegraphThe writing is lush and surprising.
—— Marisa Meltzer , Vogue[It is] shockingly assured for a first novel.
—— Mark Haddon , GuardianAlready I’m hooked… The writing style…is totally engaging – shrewd and observant but with a certain softness. I’ll report back when I’ve finished, but I think this will be a great summer read.
—— Ruth Crilly , A Model RecommendsThe Girls is compulsively readable… A strikingly accomplished debut. Evie’s voice shimmers with vivid metaphorical language… There are some truly breathtaking passages — lush and lapidary and full of startling imagery… A fierce challenge to our received notion of the 1960s as an era of peace signs, protest marches and free love, and [this] adds a note of profundity to this highly impressive first novel.
—— Alex Preston , Financial TimesEmma Cline's The Girls is so brilliant.
—— Hadley Freeman , Guardian WeeklyA compelling novel… [A] nuanced and deeply drawn character study of teenage ennui and anger… In luminous prose, the novel maps Evie’s obsessive psyche… A compelling and startling new work of fiction. Ms. Cline brilliantly shows how far adolescent loneliness can push a girl in her desire to be loved.
—— The Economist[A] steamy hit.
—— Metro[It] is so brilliant… The only thing more perfect about this book than Cline’s woozily dreamy prose is her timing.
—— Hadley Freeman , GuardianThe Summer read for you... Cline’s gorgeous novel is both stunning and shocking. We dare you not to devour in one sitting
—— Amie-Jo Locke , In-Style[A] literary page-turner.
—— Claire Coughlan , Irish IndependentA startlingly intense, brilliant and brooding debut novel….written with luminous foreboding lyricism.
—— Simon Sebag Montefiore , Evening Standard, Book of the Year[It is] intelligent and thoughtful.
—— MumsnetCline’s portrayal of the fragile teen years and the power they have in shaping the woman you become will resonate with everyone.
—— Sarah Holmes , Woman's WeeklyCline’s language…is splendid at conjuring pictures.
—— Kathy Watson , TabletCline - from California, where the novel is set, has crafted a distinct poetic timbre that devises similes galore to augment the imagery and the protagonist’s insight… Inspired, I look forward to reading more from this highly talented author. I will indeed re-Cline.
—— KettleCline’s structure…allows her to apply her acute observations about girlhood to today’s world.
—— Isobel Thompson , Times Literary SupplementThe summer’s standout debut… A tense, febrile imagining… The Girls is a subtle, restrained and beautifully textured telling of one of pop culture history’s most luridly hideous moments, with a heightened, dreamlike quality that tips irrevocably into nightmare.
—— Writing MagazineI read this in a single sitting a few months back, and it remains my favourite read of 2016. The writing is so beautiful; the sentences perfectly formed, cumulated in a plot that slowly draws you in… Eloquent, perceptive and insightful, you won’t be able to put this one down.
—— ImageThis book was sublime. I read it as the last of the sunshine faded into autumn and I felt transported into 1969 California.
—— Max and Mummy[A] clever debut novel… Gripping.
—— Jan Moir , Daily Mail, Book of the YearUndeniably the dazzling fiction debut of the year, this brilliant American novel is a vivid evocation of California in 1969… It is the author’s luminous prose style that excels. Exhilarating.
—— Tatler, Book of the YearA spellbinding, supremely evocative coming-of-age story
—— Deborah Ross , The Times, Book of the Year[A] compulsively readable debut [which] is a vivid examination of adolescence.
—— Rebecca Rose , Financial Times, Book of the YearA fluent, engrossing debut novel.
—— A Little Bird, Book of the YearThe Californian setting is intoxicating, as laced with sunlight as filth, and its insight into the teenage girl’s mind is extraordinary.
—— Alexandra Heminsley , Pool, Book of the YearA book of glistening prose.
—— RTE Guide, Book of the YearBelieve the hype; it is simply brilliant.
—— Jennifer McShane , Image Magazine, Book of the YearA shimmering tale of adolescence and sexual awakening written in prose that aptly feels almost hallucinatory
—— Claire Allfree , Metro, Book of the YearA haunting and gripping read.
—— Irish Country Magazine, Book of the YearHighly recommended if you’re in need of a good read.
—— Jennifer Selway , Daily ExpressBoth shocking and subtle, its real power lies in the exploration of girlhood itself.
—— Kate Hamer , Big IssueBrilliantly done… The year is 1969. Evie notices a group of scavenging girls – they belong to a nearby cult. And this cult is horrific. Think of the Manson family… A seriously excellent debut novel.
—— William Leith , Evening StandardAs Lena Dunham says, it'll both break your heart and blow your mind.
—— Hannah Dunn , Red OnlineThrough the story of the Manson family and their brutal crimes, Cline explores the intensity and loneliness of female adolescence with an impressive mastery of language.
—— Alexander Newson , UpcomingA superb, chilling novel of doom-laden adolescence.
—— Simon Sebag , WeekA thrilling, savage exploration of how a teenager gets sucked into a cult led by a Charles Manson figure.
—— Allison Pearson , Sunday TelegraphThe writing is so beautiful; the sentences perfectly formed, cumulated in a plot that slowly draws you in… Eloquent, perceptive and insightful, you won’t be able to put this one down.
—— Jennifer McShane , ImageFew books have such a dramatic effect on me but Emma Cline’s stirring debut The Girls is one I’ve never managed to get out of my head… This is a perceptive, insightful and beautifully written book on the often harsh realities of the formative teenage years and a telling truth of what some will do to belong and feel loved. It is a must-read and one that is more than worth sitting down with a second or third time.
—— Jennifer McShane , ImageThe novel has a number of things going for it, from Cline's gorgeous prose to her knack for plot and timing, to her way of presenting Evie's electric, often jolting moments of self-recognition. But the aspect of The Girls that captivated me the most was how Cline channels that particular period in a girl's life when she is consumed with the need to be seen, to be known—by her mother, by slightly older girls, and most often, by men.
—— Jennifer Schaffer , ViceThanks to Cline’s lyrical prose, which is at once as clear as the Californian skies of the novel’s setting and as evocative as a sunshine drenched Polaroid picture, The Girls perfectly captures the twilight years of the hippie era, where the rot of its seedy drug-fuelled underbelly shattered the dream of peace and love and culminated in a gruesome massacre that shocked the world.
—— Dean Muscat , NudgeThe Girls exemplifies the uncomfortably thin line between healthy and unhealthy relationships
—— Emily Watkins , i