Author:Sinéad Moriarty
Sinéad Moriarty's breathtaking eighth novel, This Child of Mine, is the story of two daughters, two mothers and the extraordinary bond of motherly love. It's a unique blend of the storytelling genius of Jodi Picoult and the compassion and humour of Marian Keyes, in a complex and deeply involving story that will have readers arguing about the nature of motherhood and the rights and wrongs of the characters' actions.
Sophie is a happy 18-year-old living in London with Anna, her Irish mother. Anna has devoted her life to Sophie. It may be just the two of them but Anna has more than enough love to give. Sophie has everything she could ever need.
Laura is a not-so-happy artist. She too has a daughter, Mandy. But Laura is haunted by the loss of her first child, Jody. Happy-go-lucky as she is, Mandy lives in Jody's shadow and wonders why her mother can never let go.
Both mothers carry secrets and cannot forget the day their paths crossed. But a chance discovery is about to bring everything into the open and mothers and daughters, love and lies, past and future, will spectacularly collide.
Gripping ... Sinéad's unique blend of storytelling and humour, mixed with a complex and deeply involving story, will leave you slightly gutted to reach the last page
—— StellarTouching, warm, funny and emotional. She has the gift of telling a very emotive story with grace and empathy
—— Woman's WaySinéad has written a breathtaking, rollercoaster ride of a book that will keep readers enthralled until the very last page
—— mummypages.co.ukHad me shocked and surprised all the way along ... a wonderful read ... I absolutely loved every page
—— Chloe’s Chick Lit ReviewsAs good as it gets in terms of chicklit polish and poise, humour and pain, pace and plot
—— Sunday IndependentAn enchanting story of love and loss and just how far you would go for the one you love
—— Handwrittengirl.comYan, one of China’s most successful writers, is still gaining attention abroad, but this story of a village that decides to buy Lenin’s corpse is Yan at the peak of his absurdist powers. He writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that “reality and satire are the same”
—— Evan Osnos , New Yorker, Best Books of 2012I read Lenin’s Kisses, a fierce, funny, painful and playful novel by a great Chinese writer; Yan Lianke. It is much more than just a poignant, daring political parody: it is also a subtle study of evil and stupidity, misery and compassion
—— Amos Oz, New York TimesThis is a tale of modern China with all its wonders, marvels and absurdities and ironies roped together, making it a must-read. It’s little wonder that the author has won both China's equivalences of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.
—— Da Chen, author of My Last EmpressLenin's Kisses wickedly satirizes a sycophantic society where money and power are indiscriminately worshiped ... As the traveling circus gains fans across the country, it becomes clear that the officials behind the scenes, not the performers, are the true freaks
—— Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore , Wall Street JournalSprawling, sometimes goofy, always seditious novel of modern life in the remotest corner of China . . . Set Rabelais down in the mountains of, say, Xinjiang, mix in some Günter Grass, Thomas Pynchon and Gabriel García Márquez, and you’re in the approximate territory of Lianke’s latest exercise in épatering the powers that be . . . A satirical masterpiece
—— Kirkus ReviewsThe novel's depth lies in its ability to express an unbearable sorrow, even while constantly making the reader laugh out loud ... a truly miraculous novel
—— Ming Pao Weekly (Hong Kong)Yan Lianke weaves a passionate satire of today's China, a marvellous circus where the one eyed-man is king . . . Brutal. And wickedly funny
—— L'ExpressLenin's Kisses shines with both the lyrical flourishes of magical realism and the keenly sharpened knives of great satire. The reader joins the inhabitants of the village of Liven as they confront the great upheavals of 20th Century Chinese history armed with both whimsy and their obsessive determination to prevail. This tale is at once breathtaking and seriously funny. Anyone who wishes to understand the psychic world-view of the modern People's Republic of China must read this fine novel.
—— Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster's WagerWith its distinctive language, structure and narrative approach, Lenin's Kisses presents a distictive version of 'rural china' and 'revolutionary China', even while establishing a new literary 'native China'
—— Contemporary Literature CommentaryYan Lianke sees and describes his characters with great tenderness . . . this talented and sensitive writer exposes the absurdity of our time
—— La CroixSophie Hannah is a real star.
—— Daily TelegraphSophie Hannah has quickly established herself as a doyenne of the 'home horror' school of psychological tension, taking domestic situations and wringing from them dark, gothic thrills.
—— Financial TimesHannah is a master of intense psychological thrillers . . . Full of twists and turns, and terrifying, too.
—— heatShe grips from start to finish - a grip which held me against my will because the sustained atmosphere of mild hysteria is hard to take . . . I couldn't put it down.
—— Literary ReviewPynchon’s latest novel is a historical romance set in during the internet’s infancy in the spring of 2001.
—— Jo Ellison and Violet Henderson , VogueBleeding Edge is a romp. On full display are Pynchon’s trademark linguistic and imaginative acrobatics… It may sound frivolous but an emotional maturity counterpoints the silly songs, deliberately bad puns, and pop-cultural references
—— Irish ExaminerWhen he’s in his hardboiled vein, [Pynchon] writes the most entertaining dialogue in any year.
—— Tom Stoppard , GuardianPynchon's best novel since Mason & Dixon, an exhilarating shaggy-dog private-detective story that punctured its own garrulous charm with sharp stabs of betrayal and threat. Astonishing, too, that that a 76-year-old should produce a novel with such wild and slangy bounce.
—— Tim Martin , TelegraphPynchon at his most hilarious, it gave way to more sombre realities involving a suspicious Silicon Alley tech company and its possible links to international terrorism and who knows what else.
—— UncutSuspenseful and darkly humorous.
—— Michael Dirda , Times Literary SupplementIntriguing, and probably the most straightforwardly readable of his books.
—— Gordon Brewer , HeraldA thrilling ride through the first tech bubble, filled with "bleeding edge" technology... Accomplished, funny and digressive.
—— Financial TimesPynchon's take on the attack on the Twin Towers. Will he reject the conspiracy theories of the "truthers" or spin some new conspiracies of his own? I think the answer is both. But I wouldn't swear to it.
—— Gordon Brewer , Scotsman· Pynchon delivered a piece of typically raggedy brilliance with Bleeding Edge.
—— Stuart Kelly , ScotsmanEngrossing, hilarious and shocking.
—— Jonathan Jones , GuardianPynchon’s high-energy writing crackles with dark wit and foreboding
—— Mail on SundayPlayful and paranoid New York noir
—— Adam Boulton , New StatesmanReaders will have to decide for themselves how they feel about an open-ended mystery, but for those who don’t care so much about the destination, the journey is more than worth it
—— Stephen Joyce , Nudge