Author:Lissa Evans,Lucy Briers
Brought to you by Penguin.
Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, 2015
When Noel Bostock - aged ten, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he winds up in St Albans with Vera Sedge - thiry-six, drowning in debts. Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous about how she gets it.
The war's thrown up all manner of new opportunities but what Vee needs is a cool head and the ability to make a plan. On her own, she's a disaster. With Noel, she's a team.
Together they cook up an idea. But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn't actually safe at all . . .
© Lissa Evans 2014 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
superb action scenes, well-researched ... absolutely worth the wait
—— Starburst magazineLouis de Bernieres is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh... he has only to look into his world, one senses, for it to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste
—— Evening Standard[The Autumn of the Ace is] penned with de Bernières's quiet, deprecating humour and sharp observation
—— Vanessa Berridge , Sunday ExpressBoth heart-warming and heart-wrenching, this novel will captivate the senses and make you laugh as well as cry. Brimming with incredible, quirky characters and beautiful, lyrical writing, The Autumn of the Ace is the ideal book for lovers of historical fiction
—— Carmen Coetsee , South AfricanGreene's novel of illicit love captures perfectly the atmosphere of rainy wartime London - try to read this in one sitting if you can
—— ExpressA deliciously uncomfortable read for anyone who's allowed their heart to rule their head
—— Mariella Frostrup , PsychologiesPassionate, powerful and complex
—— Susannah York , Daily ExpressOne of our greatest authors - for experience of a whole century he was the man within
—— IndependentNo serious writer of this century has more thoroughly invaded and shaped the public imagination than did Graham Greene
—— The TimesGreene’s classic wartime drama The End of the Affair is no less gripping for its simplicity…this unacceptable love, this devastating outcome.
—— Chris Pavone , Big IssueA brilliantly spare examination of loneliness and the search for forgiveness in an unforgiving world… superbly atmospheric… This is Greene at his most existential and metaphysically dense… It remains an astonishing achievement
—— Douglas Kennedy , Writing MagazineAstounding... This...is the best [Greene novel]...brimming with pain and rage. If you ever have aspirations to write a novel, read Greene. He's the perfect writer's writer
—— Emma Kennedy author of Letters from Brenda , WeekAn incisive and empathetic study of adolescent alienation and the social conditions that drive radicalisation
—— Tank MagazineAn unflinching look at generational ambition and betrayal
—— inewspaperA timely read that does a brilliant job of depicting the human cost when violence shifts from abstraction to reality
—— Mail on Sunday Event MagazineProvocative and resolutely compassionate
—— TravellerReliably funny and wise, featuring delightfully eccentric and endearing characters
—— Daily ExpressArguably his best…. A must-read
—— Victoria Moore , Daily MailStunningly simple and profound.
—— Will Gore , Catholic HeraldThe strength of this masterly novel is that it illuminates without pretending to explicate.
—— Ronan Farren , Belfast Telegraph MorningIt’s signature Amis at his most inventive, and it is through…inspired and irreverent fluency that his dead-serious purpose is realized.
—— Tova Reich , Washington PostMost fiction would break under the weight of so much self-reflection, but The Zone of Interest does not even bend... Deft, ironic and horribly funny... A brilliantly believable account of an episode which is beyond belief.
—— Frances Wilson , OldieThe Zone of Interest succeeds because in it Amis is seriously funny - that is to say, funny for serious purposes.
—— Ben Cooke , Cherwell NewspaperMartin Amis’s best novel in years
—— Ian Rankin , GuardianIt’s a brilliant feat of imagination and chutzpah.
—— Viv Groskop , ObserverIs the Holocaust a fit subject for fiction? … The only proper response is to read this remarkable, deeply disturbing and quite original novel.
—— Alan Taylor , HeraldMartin Amis’s The Zone of Interest achieved the near impossible, confounding his detractors with this horrifying glimpse into the heard of Nazi darkness.
—— Bert Wright , Irish TimesThe Zone of Interest is Amis at his boldest and best.
—— Allan Massie , ScotsmanWhat would be otherwise be light entertainment…becomes sinister and strange, warped by the enormous atrocities happening just offstage.
—— Lev Grossman and Radhika Jones , Time MagazineMartin Amis’s best novel in years.
—— Ian Rankin , Guardian WeeklyIt is always hard to read factual material about the Holocaust but in fiction Amis has shined a light into this darkness which offers no answers but is still profoundly moving.
—— Richard Jaffa , Birmingham Jewish RecorderIt was very, very good.
—— Joseph Connolly , LadyI think everyone should read it – it is so horrific.
—— Kirsty Wark , LadyA well-received return to form
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily ExpressAstonishingly bold novel… [It] is Amis’s best work in years
—— Mail on SundayAmis’s best work since Money
—— Richard Susskind , The Times