Chick lit with an edge

A brilliant and original tale

Intelligent, edgy and witty

A stunning feat of the imagination and an absolute must-read for lovers of historical fiction

Manda Scott's Boudica novels are breathtakingly good.The tragic warrior queen, Boudica, is brilliantly realised. Her battles against Rome are both heart rending and magnificent

'Like Dickens, much of Pratchett's appeal lies in his humanism, both in a sentimental regard for his characters' good fortune, and in that his writing is generous-spirited and inclusive'

Scathing, hilarious and glorious

Karoo is a very good and very funny novel of the old-fashioned American kind, the tragi-comic story - familiar from Philip Roth and JP Donleavy - of a selfish but vulnerable and oddly lovable monster whose own shortcomings don't disqualify him from saying some sharp things about the hypocrisies of the allegedly better-balanced types who despise him

Adulterous alcoholic and pathological liar, it is, nevertheless, hard not to love Karoo, whose sardonic observations are both poignant and extremely funny. This is comic writing at its best. Clever, well crafted and proof that Tesich was master of the medium

Brilliantly funny in its early chapters, but also very wise, the virtuosic irony turns to bitterness as a tragic story develops. Tesich died just after completing this marvellous, heart-felt valediction.

A sad novel with a jaunty, upbeat tone that disguises the tragedy of Tesich's magnetic characters

A feisty read you won't want to put down

A must-read for empty nesters ... this is Trollope at her most poignant