Hides a heart of darkness beneath the layers of craic, great gags, great story-telling and human warmth

The single greatest chronicler of our times

Snortingly funny one-liners ... there's plenty of gas left in the Ross tank

Extraordinarily accurate and outstandingly funny

Predictably fockin' brilliant

[Yrsa Daley-Ward] is at the realm of a new wave of contemporary poets who inspire an unprecedented level of empathy and accessibility through their honest and raw approach . . . [A] powerful collection of a woman facing tumultuous inner and external battles head on, delivered with a hard-hitting directness, yet with inflections of optimism throughout that are bound to touch readers to their core

One of the must-reads of the year

Another stunning excavator of human heat and light, Yrsa Daley-Ward goes straight to the messy beating heart of animal attraction with bone, mesmerizing poems that strip bare the pain and beauty of negotiating longing, sex and love

Beautiful ... Moving ... Touching

...so detailed and vivid you can practically feel the chill numbing your fingers. Beautifully written and richly textured, it’s a beguiling read.

Arden’s debut is an earthy, beautifully written love letter to Russian folklore, with an irresistible heroine ... [an] exciting fairy tale that will enchant readers from the first page

Enthralling and enchanting – I literally couldn’t put it down. A wondrous book!

The Bear and the Nightingale is a marvelous trip into an ancient Russia where magic is a part of everyday life

beautifully wrought fairytale for adults...

Fairy tale lovers, if you’re going to read one fantasy book this winter, let this be it.... beautiful debut

An enchanting yet haunting Russian fairytale which inspires courage in a time of darkness

Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy isn't just good - it's hug-to-your-chest, straight-to-the-favourites-shelf, reread-immediately good, and each book just gets better

A historical fantasy perfect for those who love ancient stories and tradition

A powerful read

A funny, emotional, brilliantly observed story

It's one of those rare books with almost universal appeal: it will make you laugh, cry and break your heart

It wreaks emotional havoc . . . To finish it with a firm resolve to be a better person - well, you can't ask much more of any book than that

When the kids have finished with this, the adults will want to read it. Everybody should

A bold tale of slavery for a new 'Roots' generation

Rich, epic. . . Each chapter is tightly plotted, and there are suspenseful, even spectacular climaxes

Rarely does a grand, sweeping epic plumb interior lives so thoroughly. Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing is a marvel

Terrific

Spectacular

Homegoing is stunning - a truly heartbreaking work of literary genius

This is, hand on heart, a completely brilliant novel...a brilliant debut. If this isn't shortlisted for some prizes next year, I'll be disappointed

Encompassing events major and minor, but skilfully skipping the civil war, it humanises big issues by giving us unforgettable characters. It could not be more relevant or needed

Gyasi imbues indigenous life with richness and dignity, in a style that owes something - though by no means everything - to Chinua Achebe...it serves as the engine for a powerful message

A future classic and a novel that you'll want to pass on to everyone you know...the real deal...2017 is set to be the year of Homegoing

While the issues she wrestles with are heavy, her writing is a joy....Now, more than ever, we need books like this one

Hugely courageous and really important

Homegoing is remarkable...the writing at the end of the book is every bit as vital as that at the start...she has produced a contemporary classic - one you'll actually want to read

An epic debut novel

Intriguing debut...a noble enterprise

Brilliant

Vivid and ambitious debut

Toni Morrison's Beloved spoke to a generation. Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing will do the same for a new one. In a word, it's brilliant. And not just "for a debut"

The powerful narrative of Yaa Gyasi's accomplished first novel do more than reveal the history that still troubles the United States. They make that history immediate

A fascinating view of the history of slavery...Gyasi gives voice to suppressed stories, and that feels hugely important....it certainly deserves our attention

A searing indictment of racism and a very impressive debut

Ambitious, superbly written, important - don't miss this one

It is written with such maturity and beauty, that it is hard to believe it is Gyasi's first published work...Gyasi has created a masterpiece which is educational, highly ambitious and extremely touching. Her writing style is raw and intense and leaves one desperate to see what work she will produce in the future

Extraordinary

The hype is justified

This unputdownable tale spans three continents and seven generations to tell the story of a family and of America itself

A bold and ambitious debut...full of fire and youthful confidence

Here is a book to help us remember. It is well worth its weight

Hands down the best book I've read in months...I can't wait to see what Yaa Gyasi does next

Gyasi has created a masterpiece which is educational, highly ambitious and extremely touching

Through her words we come to understand parts of history that are sometimes ignored

An epic saga

A wonderfully evocative and compassionate novel - one that shows deftness, depth and maturity. Homegoing is a gift to its readers and a treasure to cherish

The structure is fantastically strong, but it would have been nothing without Gyasi's ability to bring each character alive. At every turn she resists cliché and dogma ... she deftly weaves in just enough historical information without sacrificing its complexity ... Homegoing has something better than perfection, and that is a touch of magic... [Gyasi is] the right artist at the right time

Gyasi's debut novel has a distinctive strength and courage ... a descendent of Alex Haley's Roots and Toni Morrison's Beloved, an extended response to Joyce Carol Oates's Last Hundred Years trilogy

A confident, vivid, engrossingtale [that] winds towards a moving conclusion

Gyasi's widescreen view of history powerfully drives home her view that we are all responsible for ourselves and for each other ... a highly compassionate feat of storytelling

Entwining history, politics and personal events, this is an ambitious novel that is, and will continue to be, highly culturally relevant

Astoundingly ambitious

Ambition and talent don't always go hand-in-hand; here they unquestionably do

Tracing the descendants of two women across seven generations, this unflinching debut from Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi examines the lingering effects of slavery from the 18th-century Gold Coast to the US at the turn of the 21st century

Ambitious, multi-generational saga of the effects of the slave trade