'Gripping...Gleeson's evocation of the period is meticulously researched and her plotting is neat and controlled...a good yarn'

An irresistible follow-up to acclaimed THE GRENADILLO BOX:
'Colourful and wildly entertaining...A wonderful read'

'As attractively crafted as the box itself'

'A delicious five-course banquet: a murder mystery is succeeded by an abandoned infant weepie, a love story, a social history and, finally, a richly flavoured, full-bodied, 18th-century whodunnit...You'll be kept guessing right up until the last page in this splendid novel'

'A compulsive page-turner which will appeal especially to anyone who was spellbound by Charles Palliser's The Quincunx'

'Masterful...the sheer weight of events carries you on...a cheerful whodunnit'

'An auspicious fiction début...engaging and enjoyable'

'A delicious tale of crime'

Full of Chippendale-style hidden compartments...her narrative is absolutely enchanting'

As unremittingly bleak as her characters' lives are, Mathis has not produced a grim novel: it is as much about our need for joy as it is about our struggles against bitterness. Written with elegance and remarkable poise ... memorable and with the hint of something formidable glinting under the surface.

This is an impressive debut: tender, tough and unflinching.

This rich debut couldn't be further from the straightforward 20th-century American family saga it appears at first to be . . . Spanning many decades, it is an intricate portrait not only of complex family ties, but also of one quietly strong woman who heads this complicated tribe of siblings, children and friends. With each chapter narrated by one of Hattie's children, the power of Brooklyn author Ayana Mathis' novel is in its ability to create distinctive yet precise characters brimming with recognisable humanity.

Dazzling… Royle attended last year’s Man Booker Prize ceremony as editor of one of the shortlisted titles, Alison Moore’s The Lighthouse… I wouldn’t bet against Royle having to dry-clean the tux on his own account next time.

Royle’s coup is to deliver the pithy sting of a good short story many times over the course of a whole novel.

I admired it so much and wanted to go back and see how it was all put together. His book absolutely enchanted me.

This may be a tricksily metafictional novel but Royle hasn’t forgotten his readers.

5 stars, gripping, innovative and fluent.

Nicholas Royle has produced the holy grail: a literary page-turner. Although it’s published in January, I’ll be astonished if it doesn’t make the short list of many a prize at the end of the year.

A strange, unsettling brew that simply entertains at first before revealing darker and more dangerous depths as it progresses; a dark and delicious treat for lovers of literary fiction who like to have their grey cells tickled.

A vertiginous murder mystery with echoes of JG Ballard, David Lodge and Alain Robbe-Grillet

If writing about creative writing is to risk a novel eating itself, we can be thankful that a writer of Royle's skills put himself in charge of the banquet

A brilliant, eerie mix of campus meta-novel, whodunnit, failed-love story and existential contemplation

This just might be the exceptional book which should be judged by its cover

An ingenious tale

Cleverly metafictional, humorously perverse, and impressively original