Riveting... Stachniak has uncovered a treasure trove of rich material... The real core of Stachniak's tale is that [Catherine and Elizabeth] are women... Casts light over recent Russian history too, which is exactly what historical fiction should do

A wonderful novel, riven with intrigue and startling details, the sort to savour on a long winter evening

The kind of big busty read that sends you back to the history books

Extraordinarily absorbing... will have you on the edge of your seat

A wonderful tale of the Imperial Russia court in all its glittering glory. Eva Stachniak vividly brings to life the early years of the meek young bride who would become the terrifying, fascinating Catherine the Great

Fantastic, bold, colourful, assured and wonderful writing - and what a story! An outstanding book, magical, beautiful with writing as crisp and fine and breathtaking as a Russian winter

Luxuriant... baroque and intimate, worldly and domestic, wildly strange and soulfully familiar

A whirlwind saga of intrigue, shifting allegiances and illicit liaisons, this engrossing story really captures the imagination

A wonderfully majestic and evocative tale of 18th century Russia at a key moment in history

An intensely written, intensely felt saga of the early years that shaped the 18th century's famous czarina, Catherine the Great. Her survival in the treachery of the Russian court was an amazing feat, and Eva Stachniak captures the fluidity and steeliness that propelled Catherine from a lowly German duchess to one of the towering figures of the century

A riveting reconstruction of a crucial era in Russian history… shows iconic figures of the period as real people

Covering the twenty years that turned Catherine the Great from a young bride on approval to the legendary Empress of Russia, Eva Stachniak's novel gives a magical insight into the hopes and fears that haunted the corridors of the St Petersburg palace. It brings alive the very tastes and textures of the mid-eighteenth century

A great writer. One of the most acute chroniclers of modern life and its discontents ... The Children Act is both gripping and highly topical…Entirely entrancing

Prose of uncommon clarity, unshowiness and control … Masterly

Another notable volume from one of the finest writers alive.

A masterclass in the power of precision and restraint … McEwan is brilliant on the details that form the backdrop to public and private tragedy.

Although thrillingly close to the child within us, McEwan nonetheless writes for, and about, the grown-ups. In a climate that breeds juvenile cynicism, we more than ever need his adult art.

McEwan brings to the analysis of justice a distinctive combination of literary skill, empathy and legal knowledge… A welcome addition to the class [of novels about judges].

A classic McEwan novella, swift and compelling, asking to be read in a single sitting despite its 200-odd pages… He makes it look simple yet few other writers have anything like his mastery of such prose… So skillfully composed and fluently performed, it’s a pleasure from start to finish, one not to be interrupted.

A brave and enormously interesting subject.

A dazzling tapestry… Another magnificent work by McEwan, important and meticulously crafted.

A svelte novel as crisp and spotless as a priest’s collar.

Pacy and gripping, with a fascinating premise… McEwan skillfully brings complexity and depth to the characters.

Beautifully told with pared-down emotional honesty, this 13th novel from the Booker Prize-winner is fiercely clever and incredibly moving.

A gripping new novel which brings into question morality, religion and the very nature of life itself.

McEwan masterfully weaves a gripping personal story.

I feel that both Fiona and the boy somehow sort of transcended naturalistic character

Emotionally wrenching and visceral.

Gripping.

A short novel of great subtlety and tenderness.

Executed in his trademark elegant prose and is evidently meticulously researched.

Incredibly moving, intriguing and quite perfect as piece of fiction.

Yet another worthy addition to his canon.

The small morning scenes between husband and wife are superb.

Moving, sad and delicate.

True to life [as well as] being well-written.

Very deft, urgent and morally plangent.

Impeccably crafted.

The Children Act is in part a tribute to the best of the legal profession and, as a wordsmith, his deep respect for the best of their prose… The book has some landmark McEwan features of skillfully created tension.

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.