This convincing, engrossing read is perfect company on a sunny afternoon

Sun, sexual tension, a bit of drama, and – most importantly – all the men have the chiselled six-packs and deep tans you’d expect in a girly beach read.

Read it: it is hilarious, often wonderfully perceptive, uncompromisingly ambitious and written by a great master of the English language

Moving and humane... I love this novel... It is beautifully achieved, cunningly relaxed, and reveals considerable emotional depth

The best novelist of his generation

Amis writes thrillingly well... [The Pregnant Widow] delivers fantastic enjoyment... It is funny, clever and knowing

Amis is a powerful writer

There is something witty or striking on almost every page

Martin Amis's new novel shows a regathering of his artistic energies

The buzzing sense of fresh, limitless erotic licence is captured brilliantly...he is beginning to write with Old Master assurance on the important subjects... If Amis keeps writing like this about death, he can still prove everyone wrong

The recent death of Iain Banks left a gaping hole in contemporary literature, but nowhere was the loss felt more than in his native Scotland. Banks took ordinary situations and rendered them extraordinary; a talent that fellow Scot Sue Peebles, whose first novel won both the Scottish and Saltire book awards, shares in spades… The "sacred geometry" of ageing and the timeless measuring out of love are what sustain this subtle, beautiful book.

Deeply humane tale of memory, loss and the struggle to understand a family’s past… It’s a novel of generous warmth

A beautiful, brilliant novel destined to cement Sue's place as one of the leading lights of the Scottish literary scene

Peebles' keen eye for social observation adds a comic touch to the narrative, expertly showing how black humour is used in bleak times.

Peebles writes poetic prose, capturing Aggie's imaginative character and her need to find meaning in the puzzle of circumstances she finds herself in. The insight into dementia and its impact upon a family is poignant, with Aggie desperate to recapture the history of a beloved Gran who is disappearing in front of her eyes. The novel strongly evokes the Scottish countryside, its link to the past and the secrets it keeps. The story may be a slow burner, but keep going because its gentle pace builds up to a satisfying conclusion