Not many of E. M Forster's readers could have imagined then that his book's theme -- relations between Europeans and non-Europeans -- would soon become an acute human and literary concern. The topic has recurred often enough in fiction since then, but never, to my knowledge, has it been treated as brilliantly as it is in Paul Scott's novel, The Jewel in the Crown

Through the Layton family the changing spirit of the raj may be judged....From a work like this, all who care about fiction can take heart.

A monument eloquently expressive of affection and grief

During their time in the underworld, he and his girlfriend learnt painful, strange things about addiction and identity, and he enunciates them beautifully in this heavy little book....essential reading for anyone interested in how things go wrong

The perfect summer read... with Cooper's trademark puns, a massive cast and lots of sex - it's a winner

An absolute joy

Hilarious, heart warming and intensely moving

Hugely gratifying in the way that only Cooper can be

Triumphantly good

The prospect of Jilly's return, with a novel set in the glamorous international art world and promising "oodles of bad behaviour, intrigue, passion, tears and laughter", will surely cheer all but the most misanthropic

There is enough plot for several novels here (enough sex for dozens), all vividly conveyed in the author's excitable style... Her many fans will not be disappointed

This modern day mythical fantasy is Anne Rice on an epic scale, a hugely imagined world. A chiller thriller from cold of Russia, this one's been selling like hot cakes around the world