Hilarious and touching

Meg Wolitzer is so funny and clever she should be bottled and sold as tonic

It’s funny, and it’s brilliant, and I press it on everyone I know

A triumph of tone and observation, The Wife is a blithe, brilliant take on sexual politics

With a great lightness of touch, Wolitzer's novel satirises American literary circles of the Seventies and Eighties and traces the generation of wives who poured their own creative energies into "stoking the fires" of their husbands' reputations

Already a classic... and I have no idea why its author remains so less well known than her US compatriots, Alison Lurie and Lorrie Moore

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

Sharing is her form of survival. ... Yrsa's Jamaican and Nigerian heritage, femininity, sexuality and mental health are just some of the themes explored within this 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

It's been one of my favourites so far.

an expert storyteller. of the rarest. and purest kind--daley-ward is uncannily attentive and
in tune to the things beneath life. beneath the skin. beneath the weather of the everyday.

D[estined to go the way of Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and then some . . . It is dark, funny, touching

An amazing book . . . I cried my eyes out

What a gem of a story . . . This book made me laugh, made me angry, made me cry

Thoughtful but never preach

Wonder is essentially . . . a wonder. [It] touches the heart in the most life-affirming, unexpected ways

Every page is honest, brave and delightful

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

Simultaneously fabulous and tragic, Swan Song is an incredibly accomplished debut

Our generation’s The Secret History

Triumphant debut…remarkable

A vivid debut … based on ten years of research, this is a dazzling read that’s been worth the wait

Stunning... It’s probably one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever owned

Hypnotically fascinating

The book is dripping with atmosphere and character and is such a pleasure to read.

Pure pleasure

She deftly gives us an insight into their inner lives... while creating defined personalities that resonate and intrigue. Lyrical and fascinating, the fact that this is Greenberg-Jephcott's debut is astounding.

A stunning debut novel that seamlessly blends history, fact and fiction in this imaginative re-telling of the life of novelist Truman Capote

A brilliant first novel

A slick debut pulled off with brio, Swan Song is glamorous, vivid and sometimes even daring in its intelligence

A dazzling read

Greenberg-Jephcott’s debut is fizzing with energy and ideas…The novel has style and substance in spades.

With a grounding in history, it is a fascinating read about the deepest secrets of an iconic author.

Intoxicating

Swan Song is utterly divine.It swept me up and I just couldn't put it down ... it is the writing in this debut novel that astounds most of all. It is vivid, addictive and whips up a terrific portrait of a deeply contradictory and complex man, contrasting scenes from his unorthodox childhood with those from the gilded bubble he ended up in that he lanced through his own actions.

A sumptuous look at the icons of Manhattan's high society scene in the mid-20th century ... An immersive readthat will have you questioning real histories versus the ones we create for ourselves.

He offers the reader a masterful study of a mind devoted to fairness… The Children Act is also a fascinating, painstakingly researched look inside the judicial process… Conveyed in crisp prose, this attention to detail elevates the moral conundrums…beyond the sensationalism lesser authors might have pursued. It is, in all respects, a novel that is carefully judged.

It explores the tension between cool-headed secularism and ardent belief. It is at times preposterous – and yet it has a magical readability and is slender enough to read in one intense, absorbing sitting.

In typical McEwan style, The Children Act is unputdownable and hauntingly beautiful.

The Children Act is a…sophisticated exploration of how society treats children and how children’s welfare can be considered in the complex world in which we live, where issues about how children should be raised are not subject to consensus.

If you have any unanswered letters on your desk, McEwan’s latest will have you grabbing your pen pronto.

The Children Act shows McEwan as a master of fiction who strives to teach us how to live.

Powerful and moving.

Taut, sparing and effortless, this is another exquisitely wrought novel from the master of the novella.

A subtly musical arrangement of urgently topical issues…it may be read at a sitting, but resonates for much longer.

It’s absorbing and, almost a novella, it doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Definitely one of the best books I have read this year.

This is a wonderful read with sharp, crystalline prose and, together with a superb moral dilemma, this is a beautiful and moving story.

Offering a window into a compelling world of life or death dilemmas, this is told in prose as polished as you’d expect.

The book is bursting of beautiful writing. You’ll want to read it all over again.

A story of human behavior told in a raw, uncluttered, unforgiving way.

Renowned author McEwan manages to surprise throughout this book, right to the last page.

A story of human behavior told in a raw, uncluttered, unforgiving way – and we could all have done with another couple of hundred pages.

McEwan writes in taut, sparing and effortless prose.

Ian McEwan writes stories of exquisite precision and clarity. This one is ace.

A page-turning novel

As one has come to expect, McEwan sets up the moral issues with delicacy and precision.

Ian McEwan is at his most compelling with the story of Fiona Maye… Awesome

A wonderfully readable and thought-provoking book

A short novel that will linger in your mind for a long time

Another beautifully written masterpiece

relevant, emotive, moving, this is beautifully written and a guaranteed page turner

One of our best authors at his best.

One of my favourite authors… McEwan’s fascination with judicial issues, with music and poetry, and with the moral conundrum of how far you place your religious beliefs above the life of someone you love, all feature in this book which will leave you thinking long after you have finished it.

It's an enjoyable and often surprising novella.

It asks fundamental questions in a sober, intelligent way about the choices we make and our blindness when it comes to our beliefs.

Here he is again: vulnerable, insightful, passionate and utterly in control. He’s amazing.