"The work of a novelist in her prime... The narrative is taut and suspenseful, the characterization complex and dynamic." -- Stevie Davies Guardian "Brilliantly drawn... Atmosphere and characters linger long after the novel ends" Sunday Times "Deft, intriguing and gripping. Forster never disappoints." -- Kate Williams Woman & Home "This is Margaret Forster's last novel, sadly, and it's full of reminders of what made her such a shrewd and arresting chronicler of women's lives" -- Hephzibah Anderson Mail on Sunday "An exemplary final work ... wonderfully well-observed" -- D.J. Taylor The Times "It is Forster's acute scrutiny of the economy of friendship that hooks." -- Stephanie Cross Observer "Her simple, direct prose never strikes a false note" -- Lucy Popescu Independent on Sunday "Amply displays her formidable talent as a storyteller, undiminished to the end, and her marvellous ability to anatomise the lives of her characters while still enabling them to emerge fully realised in the reader's imagination... The novel is a rich inquiry into the nature of friendship... Forster is, as ever, brilliant at the telling details that illuminate her characters' inner lives... A fine last novel by an outstanding writer, it will disappoint neither longstanding admirers nor newcomers to Forster's work. Above all, it is a novel about the abiding human need to love and to be loved, a need that Forster makes clear is beyond measurement." -- Rebecca Abrams Financial Times "Forster is very good at the slow reveal, gradually illuminating the more questionable aspects of Tara's character as well as the crime that changed her life. She's also brilliant on the complexities of ordinary people, particularly women: the little ways they deceive themselves, their quickness to judge and their clumsy determination to be kind" -- Claire Allfree Daily Mail "Quietly compelling." Sunday Times "Margaret Forster writes the most amazing prose, tight without a superfluous word and still with the ability to convey crystal clear images to the reader... She weaves loyalty, betrayal, friendship, honour and honesty with wonderful characterisation into an absorbing story." -- Sheila A. Grant Nudge "Characters are cleverly drawn and the north/south divide well depicted" -- Vanessa Berridge Daily Express
