One of Brookner's best novels

Utterly absorbing . . . so great is Brookner's skill as a writer that you will find it difficult not to devour this brilliant novel at one long sitting.

A subtle and thorough exploration of the relationship between nostalgia and old age . . . Brooker [is] one of the bravest novelists around.

Compression, economy and the ability to conjure up an entire personality with a few adroitly chosen words. Brief Lives is a perfect demonstration of these gifts.

His prose is lovely: clear, gently persuasive, light of touch

Alain de Botton likes to take big, complex subjects and write about them with thoughtful and deceptive innocence

Engaging, sympathetic, meticulous, acutely perceptive...There's a refreshing honesty in what De Botton has to say

Well-observed and imbued with a tenderness that feels authentic and uncynical. It may even save some marriages

Thought-provoking... [a] worldly wise romance

You'll gallop through this brilliant, saucy romp

I devoured Mount! . . . Rupert Campbell-Black [is] older, still delicious, still obsessed with sex (human and horse)

This endlessly fun humdinger of a novel is an absolute riot

I was roaring with laughter from the very first page

A big, yummy brick of a book packed with horses, glamour, comedy and lashings of luxury sex. Divine

Warm, witty and wise, and I couldn't have loved it more.

Witty, frank and candid, this book takes the reader on a hilarious tour through the world of modern dating

Frank, refreshing...such a satisfying read

Emma Straub is consistently excellent

Emma Straub is quickly making a name for herself as an author who can deftly toe the line between literary and popular writing-her books are easy to breeze through, but there's also food for thought for the discerning reader

Praise for The Vacationers

Now this is what I call good holiday reading. Straub writes beautifully and amusingly . . . hard to beat for sheer charm and gentle wit

Emma Straub puts the fun back in dysfunction

There's nothing more addictive than a darkly funny dysfunctional domestic drama. Straub's novel-set during a fraught family vacation in Mallorca-is pretty much the perfect beach read

Charming and absorbing, this is a novel that demands to be read in long, satisfying gulps

Emma Straub is a magician, full of brilliance and surprise

A gorgeous and witty storyteller

Witty and big-hearted . . . leaves you smiling for days

For those unable to jet off to a Spanish island this summer, reading The Vacationers may be the next-best thing. . . . [A] gorgeously written novel . . . When I turned the last page, I felt as I often do when a vacation is over: grateful for the trip and mourning its end

Delicious . . . richly riveting . . . The Vacationers offers all the delights of a fluffy, read-it-with-sunglasses-on-the-beach read, made substantial by the exceptional wit, insight, intelligence and talents of its author

I loved The Vacationers; funny and poignant and beautifully observed

Straub's novel is cast from the same mould as the likes of Liza Klaussmann's Tigers in Red Weather and Maggie Shipstead's Seating Arrangements . . . The Vacationers is a holiday read in every way with a gently witty narrative that slips down as easily as a beachside cocktail

Emma Straub is a gorgeous and witty storyteller

Intimate, epic, beautifully observed

Witty and big-hearted ... leaves you smiling for days

Charming and absorbing

Funny, poignant and beautifully observed