Author:Jean Plaidy
No longer the well-beloved, Louis XV is becoming ever more unpopular - the huge expense of his court and decades of costly warfare having taken their toll. As the discontent grows, Louis seeks refuge in his extravagances and his mistress, the powerful Marquise de Pompadour. Suspicions, plots and rivalry are rife as Louis's daughters and lovers jostle for his attention and their own standing at Court. Ignoring the unrest in Paris, Louis continues to indulge in frivolities. But how long will Paris stay silent when the death of the Marquise de Pompadour leads to yet another mistress influencing the King?
Her novels are still very much to be enjoyed ... Any writer who can both educate and thrill a reader of any age deserves to be remembered and find new fans ... One only has to look at the TV/Media to see that the appetite for this kind of writing is still very much there
—— Matt Bates, WH Smith TravelJean Plaidy doesn't just write the history, she makes it come alive.
—— Julia Moffat, RNIFull-blooded, dramatic, exciting.
—— ObserverIt is hard to better Jean Plaidy
—— Daily MirrorOne of the funniest, most cleverly written, superbly characterised and beautifully structured books that I have read by a living author
—— Time OutHow this book towers...it is a political novel in the ambitious, exuberant, powerfully serious mode of The Satanic Verses..It is funny, very funny
—— Fay WeldonBrilliantly imagined...Among Stead's many achievements is a convincing social, political and physical backdrop...his creation of a coherent, rival story - clever, moving and sometimes witty, with fully human characters - is nothing short of a revelation
—— Sam Phipps , HeraldA pleasingly unpredictable mix of traditional and radical... It's clever, thought-provoking
—— IndependentPynchon can be totally maddening, but he has a great sense of mischief
—— Douglas Kennedy , The TimesClever and inventive in a mad professor kind of way...Intermittently warmed by paragraph-long sunbeams of iridescent prose-poetry
—— EconomistA fast elasticism running from slangy to stately, a voice full of echoes, littered with jokes and songs, and often reaching into a curious tenderness, a tone of laid back elegy.... this amazing writer continues to be amazing, and in much the same way he always was
—— London Review of Books‘[Toni Morrison’s] irreverence was godly’
—— GuardianA beautiful book and it's beautifully written
—— Kit de Waal , Good Housekeeping UKMy favourite book of all time
—— Sareeta Domingo , Good HousekeepingMorrison's stunning trilogy is an evocation of black life over the past four centuries. It defies summary. Completed almost 25 years ago, these novels top anything produced by any American writer including Hemingway, Updike and DeLillo
—— Trevor Phillips , Sunday Times[A] beautiful, haunting novel
—— Stig Abell , Sunday TimesMore than one of Morrison's books could be classed as masterpieces, but this one is famous for a reason: everyone should read it
—— Bernice McFadden, author of SUGAR , GuardianA magnificent achievement...an American masterpiece
—— A.S. Byatt , GuardianA triumph
—— Margaret Atwood , New York Times Book ReviewShe melds horror and beauty in a story that will disturb the mind forever
—— Sunday TimesToni Morrison is not just an important contemporary novelist but a major figure in our national literature
—— New York Review of BooksA work of genuine force. . .Beautifully written
—— Washington PostThere is something great in Beloved: a play of human voices, consciously exalted, perversely stressed, yet holding true. It gets you
—— The New YorkerSuperb. . .A profound and shattering story that carries the weight of history. . .Exquisitely told
This is a wonderful novel about slavery, freedom, parental loss and revenants
—— The Week, Thomas Keneally