A relatively unknown masterpiece

Magdalen, a woman who resists the Victorian idea of the angel in the house and proves to be unscrupulous in her fight for survival against poverty and prejudice, employing disguise and deceit to win back what she believes is rightfully hers

Dizzyingly readable, with a feminist anti-heroine up to all sorts of deception and skulduggery, cheered along by the reader every step of the way

Two dispossessed sisters fight for their inheritance, the narrative snaking compellingly around Victorian Britain

Collins explores the iniquity of Victorian morality by damning the future of his resourceful heroine at an early stage with the discovery of her own illegitimacy. Deprived of her inheritance and even her name, Magdalen Vanstone sets out with frightening courage to reestablish her fortune and reputation. The ingenuity and guile she employs to achieve her end makes her a rare figure in Victorian literature and one of Collins' most subversive characters

I really enjoyed it and couldn't put it down all weekend!

I saw the cover, and true book lust began . . . seductive and more than a little scary . . . The sexual tension drips off the pages . . . There are more twists and turns in the book than a dance sequence . . . Fallen is an amazing start to a series and a refreshing change to the genre

I couldn't put it down . . . I highly recommend this book

Twilight fans will love this word-of-mouth hit

There is sometimes awesomeness behind the covers. And Fallen is one such book. And the cover is deliciously gothic . . . The book has an air of mystery to it, and there are twists and turns everywhere. It certainly keeps you guessing . . . Move over, Hush, Hush, for there is more originality and awesomeness here

Full of unexpected twists, with romance, intrigue and even scares

An exciting climax and an intriguing ending

I have one word for you: WOW! This book is absolutely amazing! I cannot wait to read the next book in this series, Torment. Seriously, Fallen is unbelievably good, and I may just have to read it again soon. You need this book!

Lauren Kate really knows how to keep a reader engaged. A breathtaking read. 5/5

As lyrically succulent as Chocolat and Blackberry Wine, this book probes darker corners of loss, enmity and betrayal

Hugely enjoyable

Vastly enjoyable, utterly gripping

A dark, gripping tale of how smell leads to tragedy and murder. Harris's vividly sensual account of a nine-year-olds loves, loyalties and misunderstandings is a powerful and haunting story of childhood betrayal

Five Quarters of the Orange completes a hat-trick of food-titled tales with a riveting story about a young girl brought up in occupied France who's now an old woman harbouring a terrible secret. Harris is light-years ahead of her contemporaries. She teases you with snippets of a bigger story, gently pulling you in with her vivid descriptions of rural France until you can actually smell the oranges. Read it

Beautifully told, it's a haunting and tantalizing tale that stays with you long after turning the last page

The luscious prose, abounding in culinary metaphors and similes, which made Chocolat so readable, is once more in evidence ... a satisfying page-turner

This shape-shifting drama switches easily between Occupied France and the present day. Recipes for luscious meals and homebrewed liqueurs interlace a storyline that spoons suspense and black humour into the blender in equal measure

Harris is an acute observer of the lush French countryside, and her descriptions of it are a delight ... A luscious feast of a book

Joanne Harris's rather brilliant Five Quarters of the Orange is a fascinating page-turner with a compelling climax ... This is an absolutely remarkable book that deserves to be read over and over again

Harris' love affair with food and France continues. Savour it

Harris evocatively balances the young Framboise's perspectives on life against grown-up truths with compelling, zestful flair

The dreamy and almost fair-tale narrative remains undisturbed by the spectre of the Occupation, as Harris avoids moral or historical themes, to ponder on the internal and social turmoil of the protagonists ... Harris seduces her readers with culinary delights, through suggestive textures and smells which indulge the senses

Harris has a gift for injecting magic into the everyday ... She is an old-fashioned writer in the finest sense, believing in a strong narrative, fully rounded characters, a complex plot, even a moral

Gripping ... Harris is on assured form